But, He's Mine
by CompleteGeek
Summary: My attempt at a Draco is a veela story line. Kind of slow to start, but I think it gets better! It is now AU after the release of the Half Blood Prince
1. Harry's Job

Harry Potter kicked at a stone lying on the side of Magnolia Crescent, he was bored, it was the second week of summer and the next six weeks of vacation stretched ahead of him endlessly.

"Gosh, I am really glad that Dumbledore sent me home for summer. I mean wandering the streets is far safer than hanging out with Ron and Hermione in the Burrow or Grimmauld Place," he muttered sarcastically to himself.

Although Harry, Hermione and Ron had made impassioned pleas to Professor Dumbledore, Mrs Weasley, Professor Lupin, Mad Eye Moody, anyone they saw to have a little power really, for Harry to stay with his friends for the summer break before seventh year, they had been rebuffed at every turn. It turned out that the adults of the Order of the Phoenix felt that Privet Drive was the safest place for Harry to be at the moment, they felt that the ancient spells placed on the residence to protect him from the crazed mad man intent on killing him and taking over the world, commonly known as Lord Voldemort, were more than adequate to protect him. What they hadn't reckoned on was Harry not being very welcome inside number four Privet Drive and him spending most of his time wandering the streets of Little Winging. Harry had become very knowledgeable about the streets surrounding his home before Hogwarts and was fairly certain he could get anywhere he wanted in less than five minutes, as he knew all the shortcuts and alley ways Little Winging had to offer. It had crossed Harry's mind at the beginning of the holidays that perhaps it was a little unwise to be wandering about unprotected so he had broken into the cupboard under the stairs, where his school stuff had been shoved, at the earliest possible convenience and retrieved his wand. As there was only two weeks til his seventeenth birthday Harry felt no guilt about carrying around his wand as a form of protection, but thankfully there had not been any odd occurrences for the first two weeks of summer.

By this time Harry had wandered all the way down to the park at the end of Aegin Court, he sat on one of the swings and idly looked around swinging softly as he let his thoughts wander, he thought of what Hermione and Ron were doing, he thought of his different classes and how much homework he still needed to complete by torchlight, and he thought of how he could do so much more with a little spending money, he could go to a movie, he could catch a bus to another part of London, he could even go to Wembley Markets and pick up some cheap clothes that actually fit instead of Dudley's cast offs that were miles too big for him.

"What I need is a job," Harry said to himself "It is useless having galleons, I have no way of exchanging them for pounds."

Resolving to look in the newspaper for a job close by, Harry pushed himself off the swing and set off home, wandering past a sweet shop as he went. Cursing himself for looking at the sweets and torturing himself, for he had no money to buy any he stopped suddenly, amazed at what he saw. There in the window, plain as day, was a sign,

"**HELP WANTED**

(Enquire within)"

Heart suddenly full of hope Harry turned and went into the sweet shop, the bell above the door alerted the clerk behind the counter and he looked up with a welcoming smile.

"How can I help you?" He asked.

"Um, I saw the sign in the window about a job and I thought I would enquire," replied Harry.

"Ah yes, you are the only person I have had respond to my little sign, it has been there a week already and no-one has said anything. I was starting to give up hope." The clerk gave Harry a big smile "I really am quite desperate for the help, I am not as young as I once was and I find I can no longer lift the boxes like I used to." He continued with a rueful smile.

"Well I am very good at manual labour" Harry replied, "And I am willing to work any hours you want me to, doing anything you need."

The clerk smiled again "Well allow me to introduce myself young man, I am Mark Pucey and I am the owner of this establishment. As I am in desperate need of assistance I am willing o give you a trial of two weeks," at this Harry felt his heart leap for joy, a chance at freedom! The clerk continued "I will expect you here Monday to Saturday from eight in the morning til one in the afternoon, your duties will be restocking the store shelves and unpacking the deliveries out the back, these are delivered Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Can you come in tomorrow at eight and I will give you some training? What was your name again?"

"Oh! Sorry sir, I'm Harry, Harry Potter. Thankyou so much Mr Pucey, I will be here at eight o'clock tomorrow morning!" Harry gave Mark a beaming grin and turned to leave, mentally counting the hours til his boredom would be ending, as he left the store, Harry heard Mark call out;

"Oh please call me Mark!"

Harry headed back towards Privet Drive his mind whirling, suddenly the summer holiday didn't seem so bad, he had something that would occupy his time for most of the week and give him some spending money. Harry stopped at that thought, it hadn't occurred to him to ask how much he was going to get payed, he shrugged his shoulders, anything would be better than nothing and he could just ask tomorrow morning when he went for his training. Reaching the Dursley's house, Harry ran up the stairs to his room and shut the door; he grabbed some parchment and a quill and sat down to write his weekly letter to the Order of the Phoenix

To Everyone

It is that time of the week again! I hope this finds everyone safe and well, I know you cannot give me information about too much but can you at least give me a small hint of something to take away the boredom! This week I have spent a lot of time counting the bricks on the pathway of Magnolia Crescent (1427) and avoiding Dudley and his gang by the usual means. I am fine, fed and dressed. Nothing else to report except that; Ron and Hermione I miss you!

Love Harry

Harry did not tell them about his possible job for two reasons, one was that he may not actually have a job yet, Mark might not like him and decide not to keep him on after the two weeks and the other was just in case the Order decided that it was not safe for Harry to have a job as nothing was known about Mark Pucey or his shop, he could be a death eater for all they knew, though Harry doubted that as the store owner had not exhibited any signs of recognition when he had walked into the shop, nor when he had told his name and his eyes had not performed the usual trip up to his forehead to check out the famous lightning bolt scar.

That night Harry went to bed early, intending to get a good nights sleep as to be on time to meet Mark at the sweet shop. Unfortunately his mind was too full to settle down immediately, finally after hours of staring at the ceiling, around midnight, Harry felt his eyes start to get heavy and he welcomed the waves of sleep that swept over his body. Just as he was falling into dreamland, on the other side of London, Draco Malfoy suddenly stiffened and began to scream in agony.


	2. Draco's Birthday

Draco Malfoy was in a good mood, it was the summer holidays, he had spent the day practicing quidditch with Crabbe and Goyle and furthermore his birthday was tomorrow and his father had promised that he would be getting a gift beyond his wildest dreams. His mind full of racing brooms and a new wardrobe Draco made his way to his room and flopped down on the bed, rolling over to stare at the ceiling,

"Maybe father has planned a holiday to some country for the rest of the break," he mused to himself and grinned.

Lucious Malfoy was not the kind to let his son coming of age pass unnoticed, he probably had something very grand and exciting planned for Draco's gift. Narcissa Malfoy, may she rest in peace, had never really been one for birthdays, she felt that he should know she loved him all the time, so it fell to Lucious to make his birthdays special, Narcissa had been in charge of the rest of the year. He looked at the clock beside his bed, only one minute to midnight, Draco could feel his excitement rising, soon he would be seventeen, of age and able to do any magic he wanted! The clock began to chime and Draco felt a grin break over his face, a grin which quickly turned to a grimace as he felt an indescribable sensation sweep through his body, it almost felt as if the blood in his veins was on fire, the sensation spread further through his body reaching the tips of his fingers and toes. Suddenly the feelings running through Draco's body became unbearable, it felt as though poison was running through his veins, destroying everything in its path, his entire body stiffened in pain and, throwing back his head, Draco began screaming in agony.

From his bed Lucious could hear his son's screams and smiled in satisfaction, the change had begun; soon his little boy would be in command of immense power. Draco wouldn't be under the control of a mad man like he himself was; he would be able to make his own decisions. Lucious suddenly frowned, unless of course Draco managed the impossible and found what he would now intrinsically seek, relaxing again Lucious smiled, there was no need to worry, like father like son, Draco would most likely follow his father's footsteps and Lucious had never found the answer to his search. This allowed him to be his own master, make his own choices, albeit Lucious would be the first to admit that they were foolish ones. His son's screams suddenly stopped and Lucious smirked, in the morning there would be a lot of changes about the manor, and he couldn't wait to see the difference in his son.

Draco woke late the next morning and stretched his sore muscles with a tired groan, he felt like he had been pulled every which way and then put through a meat mincer. As he moved to get out of bed he was suddenly hit by a wave of dizziness, pausing to let the vertigo pass he let out another groan, though he hadn't eaten much the night before he could feel his stomach churning. Draco noticed that he could feel a something deep down inside him, a sensation that he was not whole, a feeling that he needed something or someone to be complete; there was a … want – deep down inside him. Putting one foot, then the other onto the floor he attempted to stand but once again a wave of dizziness hit him and he stumbled, he couldn't be sure but he felt that his centre of balance was off, he felt… taller. Pausing to gain his balance he noticed that his pyjamas were suddenly too short, both in the leg and the arm.

"Something is going on here" he muttered.

Draco moved over to his mirror and gasped in shock, a completely different reflection to what he had expected was staring back at him. While he still had light colouring, with silver blonde hair and silver eyes, his physique was vastly changed. Before he could almost be described as delicate, not he was anything but. Still slim and fine boned, his figure was muscled to perfection, his arms, legs and torso longer than they had been last night. While Draco had never been, in any way, ugly, he was now gorgeous. Coming to an abrupt decision, Draco spun on his heel and left his bedroom making a beeline for his father's study.

"Father?" Draco called with just an edge of Panic to his voice.

"Father!" he called again hen there was no reply.

"FATHER!" he finally bellowed when he found that the man he was searching for was nowhere to be found.

"Yes Draco? What is it?" Lucious enquired stepping out of his bedroom,

"Ah never mind, I see. Happy Birthday son!" He exclaimed with a wide grin.

"What?" In light of the recent events Draco had actually forgotten that today was his birthday. "Oh right, thankyou. Dad, do you notice anything different about me?" he asked.

"It's Father, Draco, if you don't mind. And yes, I did notice your changes, isn't this a wonderful gift?"

"Well Father" Draco began, "I am not sure whether I would call this a gift, what in Merlin's name is happening?"

Draco stressed the title father in annoyance. While Lucious was a perfectly relaxed and caring parent in the manor, he maintained a strict policy of the appearance of obedience in public. With terms of address, Lucious insisted on Father, for it would not do to have a feared and loathed Death Eater being called something as nice as Dad in public.

"Its kind of a long story son, lets have a nice breakfast and then I will tell you all about it" Lucious replied, feeling he needed a bit more time to be able to get his facts in order before answering his sons many questions.

"Right, breakfast is over, it was very nice, it was VERY long, and now it is over. Do you have anything you would like to explain now father?" Draco asked in sarcastic politeness. He was of age now and could do magic out of school legally, and was currently fighting off strong urges to hex something.

"Ok, well, to quote some asinine muggle song, let's start at the very beginning. It all started with your great, great, great grandfather, Brian, when he fell in love with a very beautiful woman, Amelinda. Of course, being a Malfoy he pursued her, married her and got her pregnant all in the space of a year. No-one could ever say a Malfoy did not get what he wanted; it was a blissful marriage with no problems so it wasn't until Amelinda was pregnant when she and Brian first fight. Amelinda displayed some… interesting characteristics when she got angry, it was found that she was actually a veela."

Draco raised his eyebrows, "A veela?"

"Yes, a veela. Now, since Amelinda was a veela but Brian was not, their child, Wolfric, my great grandfather only displayed some of the characteristics of the veela. He came into his 'inheritance' when he was seventeen, his body took on the characteristics of a veela and he held the gift of attraction. After Wolfric the first born of each successive generation have inherited the same traits, my grandfather, my father, myself and now you."

"So let me get this straight, I am a part veela? And you haven't told me this before, why?" Draco asked.

"It's tradition Draco! The child who receives the gift does not know about it! I didn't know before my seventeenth birthday!"

Draco had had quite enough of everything he had just been told and wanted to vent a little. "Well that is just fine and dandy isn't it? You hide this momentous fact about my life and expect me to be thrilled? Come on Dad!" At this Lucious' lips pursed in disapproval but Draco did not notice, "My entire life has just been turned up side down! And what in bollock's name is this ache inside of me?"

"That, son, is your soul searching for its mate."


	3. Oops

Oops! I have just realised that there are no disclaimers on my work. Sorry, I am new to this! Anyway, here goes…

Disclaimer: Anything that you recognise does not belong to me; it belongs to the very talented J.K. Rowling. Lucky her! I am doing this purely to see if I can, I am not making any money off of this what so ever. Unlucky me!

Also, I have read a lot of stories on this site, so if anything is familiar, it is not on purpose… Could you simply take it as an homage?


	4. Harry's Birthday

**Diclaimer:** Anything that you recognise does not belong to me; it belongs to the very talented J.K. Rowling. Lucky her! I am doing this purely to see if I can, I am not making any money off of this what so ever. Unlucky me!

Also, I have read a lot of stories on this site, so if anything is familiar, it is not on purpose… Could you simply take it as an homage? 

On a further note, wow. When I posted this I did not expect any reviews but I got some! Woohoo!

Maroon Seraph, thankyou so much for the spelling help! I knew it was wrong but I have lent all my books to my friend and I couldn't check!

* * *

Harry Potter woke up early on the 31st of July, there were three owls clamouring to get into his bedroom window which he had shut the night before.

"Okay, okay, I'm up" Harry grumbled to the owls, his birthday fell on a Sunday this year and he had been looking forward to a sleep in, his two weeks working at the Sweet Shop for Mark had been some of the busiest of his life. Harry couldn't remember when he had done so much physical work, and that included when Aunt Petunia was in a bad mood and inflicted the outdoor chores on him! Harry was having the time of his life though, he was such a good worker that Mark had increased his hours to eight to five Monday to Tuesday and nine to three on a Saturday, and was teaching him how to work the til so he could help with the customers as well. Harry had been paid the day before and was planning on taking the tube to Wembley Markets and checking out the bargain clothes, he'd heard Mrs Smith next door talking about some pants she got for just a pound!

Harry wearily got up and opened the window, the three owls flew in at once, one dropping the letter and leaving back out through the window immediately, another ping ponging around the room in excitement and the third flying sedately to the bed and waiting for Harry's attention. Harry, who was used to the little owl named Pig ping ponging around his room, moved to the owl on his bed and untied the letter from its leg, the owl gave a dignified hoot and flew back out the window. Finally Harry turned to Pig, thankful that Hedwig was off on a journey somewhere because the little owl was making an enormous spectacle of himself, and grabbed him out of the air. The little owl hooted happily and nibbled at Harry's fingers affectionately.

"So Pig, what have you got here?" Harry murmured to the little owl, untying the small package from the owl's leg.

"Whoa!" he exclaimed as he pulled the string on the package and it grew to be half the size of Harry's bed, ripping off the outside wrapping he found five different packages inside the original parcel. Looking through them quickly he found they were birthday gifts from Ron, Hermione, Fred and George, Hagrid and Remus. Leaving the best til last, Harry turned his attention to the letters that the other two owls had delivered, one was from Hogwarts with is school list and reminder that this year was NEWTs and that he had better be prepared to study as Hogwarts was not in the habit of rewarding slackers (only not in those exact words). The second was from the Ministry of Magic reading as follows;

Dear Mr Potter,

This letter is to inform you that you are now of age and are able to apply for your apparation license, your test will be on the twentieth of August at seven o'clock in the morning and not before. If this time is not suitable for you, please contact the Office of Transport at Ministry Floo 357 to organise a later date. Enclosed is the apparation handbook and we urge you to study it closely, for the consequences of not being prepared are dire. An Office of Transport official will be at your place of residence on the twentieth of August to administer the test.

Have a nice day

Hamilton Spencer

(Undersecretary to the Minister of Transport)

Harry, who had forgotten all about being able to apparate when he was seventeen felt quite excited to hear that he would be able to legally do it in less than a month. For every now and again, usually when he was stressed or upset, he did unintentional apparitions, usually just from room to room and he was always worried that he might get into trouble. Putting aside the handbook for later perusal Harry turned to his gifts.

Presents were extra special for Harry, since for so much of his life he had had nothing he was very excited when he got something that was just _his_, something that was made, bought or created just for him. So when Harry was given something special, something just for him, he tended to treasure and look after it forever, he still had one of the chocolate frogs from the box that Ron had given him that Christmas in first year, and the pieces of his Nimbus 2000 that had been destroyed by the whomping willow in his third year, an even the homework planner Hermione had given him for Christmas in his fifth year, once something was Harry's he didn't let go of it easily.

Harry had received some fantastic gifts for his birthday this year, Hermione had given him two books, one about the art of apparating and one about magical creatures since Harry had decided to continue on with Care of Magical Creatures for his NEWTs, Ron had sent him a golden snitch signed by Harry's favourite quidditch player, who was not on the Chudley Cannons, much to Ron's disgust. The Weasley twins had sent him a huge box of their newest jokes, with a written suggestion of perhaps he could try them out on a certain relative, ever since Harry's forth year the twins had had a fascination with Dudley, and made sure that he remembered them as well. Hagrid had sent some more pictures for Harry's album, these ones of Sirius. Harry flipped through the small stack smiling at the photos of his godfather and father dangling a screaming Lily over the Great Lake and one of Snuffles curled up in front of the fire. Finally Harry turned to Remus' present; it was a signet ring with an interesting looking black stone. With it was a note from Remus

Dear Harry

Happy Birthday! This ring is actually from Sirius. It is a tradition for Godparents to give their Godchild a piece of jewellery when they turn seventeen and are of age. Sirius actually went out and bought this ring for you the day Lily and James named him Godfather which is how I was able to give it to you. I remember Sirius saying that the stone on the ring did something special, but I was told so long ago that I cannot actually remember what! Hopefully it is something nice and Sirius hasn't charmed it to shoot water at Snape or anything! I have another gift for you from me, but it is rather fragile in temperament and does not travel well I will give it to you at school, Professor Dumbledore has decided to give me another shot at being the Defence Against Dark Arts teacher. So if I do not see you before, I will see you on the first of September.

Love Remus

"Wow, Sirius!" Harry breathed as he slid the silver signet ring onto his little finger; it was the most amazing ring he had ever seen, beautifully crafted and the stone! The stone, though being pitch black, seemed to give off a shine as if lit from within.

Harry quickly hid the rest of his presents so no snooping Dursley's were able to find them and left to walk to the tube station so he could go marketing. He whistled as he walked in the bright sunshine, what with his fantastic job, loving friends and being able to do magic legally, life was looking pretty good. Maybe this year at school wouldn't be as eventful as the last few years…

* * *

I know it is still going slow, but the way I figure it JK Rowling does this to us, so I can do it too! 


	5. Wembley Stadium

Disclaimer: Anything that you recognise does not belong to me; it belongs to the very talented J.K. Rowling. Lucky her! I am doing this purely to see if I can, I am not making any money off of this what so ever. Unlucky me!

Also, I have read a lot of stories on this site, so if anything is familiar, it is not on purpose… Could you simply take it as an homage?

* * *

**TWO WEEKS AFTER HARRY'S BIRTHDAY**

Once again, Harry went to the Wembley Markets on his Sunday off. The last time he went he had gotten so many great bargains he couldn't ait to see what he cold get this time. He had bought three pairs of jeans, two hooded jumpers, three t-shirts and two button down shirts for only one hundred pounds! While they might not be name brands, but they suited Harry and most importantly of all, the actually fit!

Harry boarded the tube and took a seat, his mind full of what he needed to buy, he was thinking about trying to find some other pants that weren't jeans for a change. He was so absorbed with his thoughts he didn't notice that the train was becoming more and more full, and that everyone on board seemed to be wearing one of two set of colours, either green and orange or blue and white. When the train pulled into Wembley Station Harry was surprised that he entire train seemed to get off with him, and as they made their way closer and closer to the stadium Harry's heart sank, he wouldn't be able to do any shopping today, there was a rugby match on. Slowing down he looked around, taking in his surroundings for the first time in a while. His mouth twisted with wry humour when he thought of what Mad Eye Moody's reaction would be to Harry not paying attention. Though it had been almost three years ago, Harry still remembered Moody's DADA classes with a smile. The fact that Moody was still part of the Order of the Phoenix also meant that Harry could not escape Mad Eye's lectures about "CONSTANT VIGILANCE". Harry, in his observations, spotted a ticket booth just down the path, walking up he saw that there were tickets going for just ten pounds, figuring that he may as well not waste the trip he bought a ticket and entered the stadium to find his seat.

* * *

Draco was annoyed. He had found out he was part veela a month ago and his father had had spent the ensuing time explaining what that meant, relating amusing anecdotes from his past and teaching how to control himself. Draco was now very adept at turning on and off his attraction at will, he found it easier to have it toned down most of the time, but could think of a few occasions in which it could come in handy, avoiding detention for example. Lucius was quite upset about this, apparently being a part veela AND a Malfoy should mean that Draco is above such petty means, Lucius himself had spent many hours telling Draco about the times he could of used his inherited powers but hadn't. Draco had felt like responding that Lucius had become a servant to Voldemort and he really didn't have a moral leg to stand on, but had restrained himself, he didn't think even his father, who was usually very lenient towards his son, would forgive that remark.

What was really making Draco annoyed though was that he still felt the ache, deep down inside of him and, though his father was very knowledgeable about most things to do with his inheritance, he was not very forthcoming about this particular aspect of his gift. Lucius had admitted that he had never found his mate, that he had had to settle with marrying Narcissa, and, while he was very fond of his late wife, he had not loved her with the all encompassing passion that he had read about when researching the love between a veela and their mate.

"There has to be something I can do to ease this ache inside of me!" Draco exclaimed, kicking the wall next to his bedroom door.

Draco lid down the wall and sat on the floor brooding about this problem. This is ridiculous; he was a fully grown wizard! He had passed his apparition lic – Draco's thoughts suddenly pulled up short, he had passed his apparition licence! Draco's mind started racing, the key to apparating was to concentrate very hard on a particular location, what if he concentrated very hard on a particular feeling, a searching, and wouldn't that guide his apparition to where the object of the search currently was? Draco suddenly felt full of hope, he had a plan! He wasn't sure if the plan would give him the desired results, but it was better than nothing and he just had to try it out. Getting changed into jeans and a t-shirt, just in case the search took him into muggle territory, Draco grabbed a jacket and, with a shout to his father that he was going out, ran to the manors apparition point.

Reaching the one room in the manor which you could apparate to and from Draco readied himself, breathing deeply he closed his eyes and concentrated very hard on the longing inside of him. With a small pop, Draco disappeared from the manor and reappeared immediately in a large crowd of people.

"Oi! Watch where you're going!" An annoyed voice rang through Draco's ears, he had apparated directly in the path of a big man dressed in a rugby jumper of orange and green.

Draco was slightly disappointed, obviously his idea had worked, but it had placed him the middle of a huge crowd of people, and he didn't have any way of knowing what to do next to in his mate. He looked around desperately, hoping there might be an obvious hint to help him out, maybe a giant flashing arrow suspended in mid air saying

"**YOUR MATE IS HERE DRACO!**"

Unfortunately he was not that lucky.

"AAAARRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHH!" Draco screamed in frustration and in a fit of pique he apparated back home fully intending to sulk for the rest of the holidays.

* * *

Harry was enjoying the game very much, his ticket had placed him in the centre of a sea of orange and green and he had a great time cheering on the Hawks. He had a great time cheering along with the crowd, insulting the other team, leaping up from his seat when his 'team' scored a try, booing when the other team did particularly well. The high spirits of the crowd helped keep Harry's mind off the freezing wind that was sweeping around the stands, rubbing his hands together Harry absently noticed that the stone of Sirius' ring was warmer than the rest of him, thinking that maybe it had a warming charm on it Harry soon got swept away by the game again as the Hawks scored a spectacular field goal.

When the game finished Harry moved with the crowd towards the exit, his mind wrapped up in the game that he had just seen. Unfortunately the game ended in a draw so his cheering companions did not get the great victory they had predicted at half time, but it had been a great experience for Harry, one he fully intended to repeat, he thought he would have to speak to Mark about the rugby on Monday and see if he had any suggestions about the best team to support, he couldn't very well continue just cheering with the crowd.

* * *

The next day Harry bounced into work with a huge grin on his face.

"Mark? Hey Mark! Where are you? What are we doing first today? Can I re format those sweet jars on the back wall, I think that sorting by flavouring would be much better than colour, no offence or anything mate!" Hearing no reply from the back where Mark usually was first thing in the morning, Harry made his way back there.

"Mark? Where are you?" Walking into the back room Harry stopped dead, his words dying in his throat. Lying on the floor of the storeroom was the one person who had been nice to him the entire summer, lying on the floor in a pool of blood was his boss Mark Pucey, dead.

* * *

Sorry to leave you here, work beckons, but hopefully I will be back later to update further! Its like it is all rattling around in my head begging to get out! 


	6. Harry's Train Ride

Disclaimer: Anything that you recognise does not belong to me; it belongs to the very talented J.K. Rowling. Lucky her! I am doing this purely to see if I can, I am not making any money off of this what so ever. Unlucky me!

Also, I have read a lot of stories on this site, so if anything is familiar, it is not on purpose… Could you simply take it as an homage?

AN: I am sorry about the cliff hanger in the previous chapter, I planned on posting that and this chapter together but the internet gods were against me!

* * *

Harry sat alone on the school train staring out the window waiting, he had arrived very early and had decided that, instead of freezing on the platform, he would get onto the centrally heated train and wait for his friends in comfort. He was trying very hard not to think of the last two weeks of his holidays, but was failing dismally, images flashing through his brain. Against Harry's will, his mind drifted back to the day that he had found his boss had been murdered.

* * *

Harry stood for what seemed eternity, staring down at the body lying on the floor, his mind racing.

"Oh No! Death Eaters! They've found me!" Were the first things he thought, but then his senses kicked in, death eaters usually waited for him to arrive so they could try and kill him too, they did not usually just kill owners of shops for fun. Deciding it better to be safe, rather than sorry, Harry went to the store's phone and dialled 999, telling the operator that there had been a murder at the sweet shop he then put down the phone and rang Mrs Figg, telling her the same thing and that he had called the police. Knowing that she would contact the Order immediately he didn't keep her on the phone, rather he went out to the foot path in front of the store to await the arrival of the police or an order member, hoping that the Order would be conscious of the fact that there would be police there an not be too conspicuous.

As luck would have it Tonks was the Order member that Harry met on the footpath a few minutes before the police arrived, after speaking with Harry quickly she metamorphed herself to have brown hair and eyes, instead of the purple she had been sporting a few seconds earlier and transfigured her auror robes into the blue police uniform. Moments later a muggle police car pulled up and two muggle police officers stepped out, one of them staying to investigate the crime scene, the other taking Harry back to the station for questioning.

After hours of questioning by Constable Spencer, in which Harry was asked the same questions again and again, creating the need for him to keep a tight reign on his magic, just in case he lost control of his magic and inadvertently hexed Constable Spencer, Harry was let go.

"Thankyou for your time Mr Potter, it has been most helpful; I will get Constable Tontine to take you home."

Constable Spencer stood and after gathering his notes he stood to open the door and let another constable, presumably Constable Tontine. Harry muttered what he hoped was a suitable response and looked up to see Tonks smiling at him.

"Come along Mr Potter, you must be wanting to go home and have some rest. No doubt it's been a tiring day"

Harry smiled weakly and followed the kindly smiling auror out of the police station and down an alley way adjacent to the building.

"Come on Harry, I'll take you to Mrs Figg's house where a few people are waiting for you and we'll tell you everything there."

Tonks wrapped her arms around Harry's shoulders and during the time it took Harry to blink they had relocated to Mrs Figg's living room. Letting go of Harry Tonks went to find the others that she had mentioned and Harry went to the couch and sat down. Harry didn't know what to think, burying his head in his hands he assessed the situation, he felt numb, he didn't know what to think, this was the first time he had experienced evil outside of the wizarding world and his mind was reeling.

"Harry?" a soft voice jolted him out of his thoughts.

Harry looked up, standing before him was Remus, Professor Dumbledore, Tonks and Mad Eye Moody.

"Harry, there was no magic involved in this." Remus told him, "The police found evidence that Mr Pucey was killed by a youth who wanted money, the cash register was empty and there were signs that they had tried to get into the safe that's out the back. Mr Pucey must have surprised them and they panicked. This was just a very sad accident."

"Harry I found this on a shelf along the back wall with all the sweets, it had your name on it." Tonks said handing him an envelope. Harry took it from her and, looking down at his boss' handwriting, the events of the day finally hit him, sadness and grief overwhelmed him and he broke down and cried

* * *

Harry sighed and put his forehead against the cool glass of the train window, briefly thinking about the two weeks he had spent in his room, leaving only to buy some groceries. Aunt Petunia had refused to feed him, saying that as he hadn't needed it all summer, he didn't need it now. Harry didn't feel the need to tell her that his boss had been murdered so he was no longer leaving the house, and therefore had no where else to eat. The Order, in all their wisdom, had decided that as it hadn't been a magical attack, the safest place for Harry to be was still Privet Drive and had even sent his books to him, getting rid of his excuse to go to Diagon Alley. Harry, suffering from utter boredom, had actually read the books, in fact he had memorised them. A brief smirk crossed his face, maybe this year he'd actually give Hermione a run for her money in the know-it-all department.

The door to the compartment suddenly flew open, Harry spun, instinctively grasping his wand, only to release it again as he came face to face with his two smiling best friends.

"Harry!" Hermione screeched throwing herself at him

Harry caught her and swung her around in a circle grinning with undisguised delight at being able to talk to his friends again and not having to rely on letters. Although he hadn't been doing much letter writing during the last two weeks, he wasn't even sure if his friends knew that he had had a job, let alone everything that had happened after.

"Oh my goodness, it is so great to see you again! How were your holidays? Ron and I begged for you to be able to come to London but Professor Dumbledore kept saying that you were safer at Privet Drive. Have you got your books? What did you think about our DADA book, it looks good doesn't it? You have looked at you books haven't you Harry?" Hermione's incessant questioning was suddenly cut short when she caught site of what Harry was wearing. "Wow! Harry you look excellent! Where did you get the clothes! I mean, they fit!"

Harry grinned, his questions had been answered, they didn't know what had happened, in a way that was to be expected, the Order hadn't even known what Harry was doing on his holiday until he had called Mrs Figg.

"She's right mate," Ron said, speaking for the first time since he had entered the carriage, "You are looking better clothed this year, but are you alright otherwise? You look down."

Harry sighed, running his fingers through his hair and making it even more tussled than it usually was, wondering where to start. He decide to start at the beginning and go from there

"Well I hope you guys are comfortable because it is a loooonnngggg story" he said with a small smile, Hermione and Ron sat down on the seats across from him and looked at Harry expectantly, waiting to here the story. Harry allowed himself a small smile as he looked at his friends eager faces and started,

"Well, about two weeks into the holidays I was walking home from the park thinking that I really needed to get some clothes that fit, but realised to do that I needed a job, so I resolved to look in the newspaper for a job…" Harry started his story, continuing on as his friends listened with rapt expressions.

* * *

Harry had just started telling Ron and Hermione about the Rugby game he went to when the compartment door flew open once again, once again Harry spun grasping his wand in his hand, only this time he did not let go of it when he saw who stood in the door way.

"Well, well, look what we have here, the mudblood, the pot head and the weasel" Draco stood leaning against the doorframe with Crabbe and Goyle behind him.

Taking a deep breath he turned to his two friends "Smell that boys? That's…" Suddenly, Draco went pale, spinning back to look at the inhabitants of the compartment, his eyes widened. He looked over his shoulder at Crabbe and Goyle and jerked his head,

"Come on, let's go. We don't want to waste our time with these losers." And with that Draco made his way down the centre of the train, not even looking back to see if his two friends were following.

Harry, Ron and Hermione looked at each other in disbelief,

"Well, that was different" commented Ron

"I wonder what happened to make him give up like that." Harry said sliding his wand back into his pocket "I have never seen Malfoy act like that before; we didn't even say anything to him."

"Did he look different to you?" Asked Hermione "He seemed… taller or something"

As it was obvious that Malfoy was not going to come back and explain his actions, Hermione and Ron turned back to Harry and he continued with the story of his summer vacation, telling them the story and answering questions until the train pulled into Hogsmeade Station and they got off to go to Hogwarts in the thestral driven carriages.


	7. Draco's Train Ride

Disclaimer: Anything that you recognise does not belong to me; it belongs to the very talented J.K. Rowling. Lucky her! I am doing this purely to see if I can, I am not making any money off of this what so ever. Unlucky me!

Also, I have read a lot of stories on this site, so if anything is familiar, it is not on purpose… Could you simply take it as an homage?

P.S. Thankyou so much for the reviews, they warm my heart!

* * *

Draco Malfoy was happy to be going back to school on the Hogwarts Express. Though the summer holidays were great, he could be himself and not worry about any strange looks or comments if he helped someone out, it was so much easier being the bad guy of the school. The baddie never had to think or feel anything except bad thought and anger, at school he could hide behind this persona and not worry about being part veela, and the searching feeling inside of him, yearning desperately for his mate. He could keep people at a distance with the words and names he used; at home he wouldn't dream of spouting rubbish about mud bloods and pure bloods, his father would have his skin if he dreamt of starting a conversation bout the purity of blood, but at school… Well, at school he upheld the name of Malfoy, he could suppress everything about himself that was kind and sympathetic while in the public eye and only show what people expected, a wanna-be dark wizard who had no intention of doing anything with his life except follow in what the public perceived to be his father's footsteps.

What the world did not realise was that Lucius Malfoy, though still a death eater, was no longer a practicing death eater. He had paid a hefty price to be released from Lord Voldemort's active service, he still attended meetings and pledged his loyalty to the Dark Lord but his goals in life had changed. A brief stay in prison and a look at how much his son had changed without his guidance made Lucius Malfoy see the error of his ways. How he was following a mad man who would attempt to lure his son to being the right hand of evil while he, Draco's _father_, had been rotting in a jail cell for following a command that the said mad man had given. He had seen Voldemort for what he truly was, an insane megalomaniac who would stop at nothing to gain control of the world and anyone who did not help him or who got in his way be damned. Now, while there was no way in hell that Lucius was going to go marching up to that infernal fool Albus Dumbledore and pledge his allegiance to the side of light, he would help in any way he could. He'd noticed that his closest friend, Severus Snape, Draco's Godfather had been very attentive during all meetings he was summoned to and made a point of telling his childhood friend what he had missed when he wasn't summoned. He also wrote letters to Draco with not so subtle hints about what was going on outside of Hogwarts on the side of evil.

* * *

Draco's heart lifted as he saw the familiar red steam engine on the Platform of 9 ¾, feeling the familiar mask slip over his features, his eyes becoming a flinty silver, a smirk twisting his mouth. He might have the features of an angel after his seventeenth birthday but he could look like the very devil himself, come down to seduce innocent souls, if he tried hard enough. And what better way was there to look when everyone believed you wanted to pledge your life to the Dark Lord?

"Greg, Vince" Draco greeted his two school friends.

These two young males were also adept at hiding their true selves; while they did not visibly try hard at school only receiving mediocre marks they were actually as smart as tacks. Draco, Greg and Vince had subliminal messages down to an art form and could have two conversations at once, one verbal, the other visual, with seemingly innocent hand gestures meaning so much more than simply scratching an itch for example.

"Did you both have good summers?" Draco asked "I had an exceptional summer; Father went all out for my birthday."

At least that is what the people around him heard, what Draco said in the code he, Greg and Vince had worked out was: "The shit has hit the fan, can't talk now, I will tell you in private"

Greg and Vince grunted playing their roles of the mindless gorillas that followed Malfoy around looking menacing but through gestures and movements Gregory asked if all was well and Vincent reassured Draco that they would find a way to fix whatever had gone wrong.

The trio made their way to the foremost compartment and, after tossing out a few third year Ravenclaws (what good was it being evil if you didn't get some perks?), made themselves comfortable for the long trip North. Most of the trip they spent in casual conversation with an underlay of more serious conversation, while Draco prattled on about how important his father was, what gifts he had gotten for his birthday and how Slytherin was going to win the quidditch cup this year, he told Vince and Greg through signals about his summer, that he was a veela, how he had come into his inheritance on his seventeenth birthday and all that entailed, and finally about how he was destined to spend the rest of his life with one girl, his life mate, if he could just find them.

* * *

Once Draco had finished filling his friends in on his summer holidays and they had shared their news, both their fathers had been sent away on a mission for Lord Voldemort and not yet returned, Draco sighed.

"Come on boys, lets on work on our image. Do you know where they are?" He had no need to say who 'they' were; there were only three people on this train that they needed to know about, the three most prominent Gryffindors in the school, the three people they needed to appear against to cement their image as sympathetic to Voldemort's cause.

"Yeah, middle of the train, on the left side." Goyle answered, standing and cracking his knuckles in preparation for his menacing act, knuckles crack so much easily if they have already been done recently.

Making his way down the middle of the train he scratched in between his shoulder blades, a signal he knew his mates would interpret as: "Lets Get in Character", and drawing his wand he blasted the door open, his smirk getting wider when he saw Harry pointing his wand at him.

"Well, well, look what we have here, the mudblood, the pot head and the weasel" Draco turned to his friends and got told to do the old 'I am rich, the Weasley's are poor' routine by how many knuckles Vince cracked on his left hand.

Taking a deep breath he drawled, "Smell that boys? That's…" Draco was suddenly hit with the most incredible scent he had ever smelled, it was like all his favourite foods, flowers and memory scents all rolled into one, his heart gave a leap and the yearning ache inside of him ceased, a feeling of contentment replacing it. Looking into the compartment he saw that it was just the trio, they had no other Gryffindors in there with them.

"MY MATE IS HERMIONE GRANGER?" he thought in shock and, knowing he had to get out of there as soon as possible, Draco gave the signal for abort.

"Come on, let's go. We don't want to waste our time with these losers." Knowing that his friends would follow without question he made his way back down the centre of the train to their compartment.

* * *

"What was that all about?" Gregory asked, after making sure that the compartment was empty and the door was closed. "It was going well, they were getting right shirty and you were in top form."

"How much do you know about my gift?" Draco asked his friends

"Not much," replied Vince for the two of them "You should be able to do a very good dance when the need calls for it, if I remember correctly from the World Cup" he finished, cracking a small grin.

"Well I can find what I am searching for by scent, and back there I smelt it" he informed them, adding in signals 'AND HERMIONE GRANGER'S MY MATE!'

"Uh, mate, there were three of them in the compartment," Vincent said tentatively, not wanting to rile his friend up any further.

"Don't be ridiculous, I only go one way" Draco replied, being very careful with his words, just in case someone was listening.

"I don't think your gift differentiates my friend, here read this" Goyle handed Draco a book.

_Veela are creatures that mate for life. A veela's mate is what most people like to call a 'soul mate' in that it is the compatibility of the souls of the two that is judged, for each veela only one person in the world is compatible enough to be their mate. They can identify their mates by smell, and once found can instantly appear at their mates side at will. If a veela does not find its mate, it can settle for another partner but will still be constantly searching for their true mate, whom once found, they will love with a passion that surpasses all other loves in their lives. A veela's sense of scent when finding their mate focuses solely on the mates attributes, it does not differentiate between sexes, thus creating same sex couples occasionally. _

"Oh, well, I am royally stuffed aren't I?" Draco groaned after reading the text, "What is this anyway Greg?" He asked looking at the text in his hands.

"It's our DADA text book this year"

Draco groaned again, he wasn't royally stuffed, he was royally screwed! Not only was his mate one of the people he had to appear to hate, he would be learning about himself in a classroom with all the other seventh years, who might be able to join the dots and figure out what he was. This year Draco was going to have to work very hard to maintain his cool mask for the public eye.

"Oh Gods, I hope my mate is Hermione" he thought closing his eyes.

* * *

Ten points to the person who recognises the movie quote! Tell me in a review (hint hint). I will tell you next chapter so I am not accused of plagarising, uni has put the fear of God into my about that!


	8. I need to think

Disclaimer: Anything that you recognise does not belong to me; it belongs to the very talented J.K. Rowling. Lucky her! I am doing this purely to see if I can, I am not making any money off of this what so ever. Unlucky me!

Also, I have read a lot of stories on this site, so if anything is familiar, it is not on purpose… Could you simply take it as an homage?

AN: **Yana5**, neither do I!

* * *

Harry, Ron and Hermione were already seated when Draco, Crabbe and Goyle walked into the Great Hall for the welcoming feast, giving Hermione ample time to answer her earlier questions. Yes, Draco Malfoy had gotten taller, at least 20 centimetres taller if she wasn't mistaken. His physical appearance had changed as well, he was sleeker, and he had a face that would make angels weep.

"I told you he'd changed!" Hermione whispered to her two friends digging Ron in the ribs with her elbow.

"Ow, Mione, watch it! What are you talking about anyway?" Ron asked rubbing his side.

"Malfoy! Look at him! He looks like he's almost a different person!" Hermione was shocked.

"You know Hermione, you might be right. He might be taller or something." Harry said with a shrug.

He looked back toward the front of the Hall to the teacher's table. He was happy to see that Remus was looking better than he had been the last time he saw him. Remus had become a kind of surrogate God father in the two years since Sirius had died, and Harry often worried that if Remus wasn't given the opportunities to enable him to take care of himself he would lose him too and be alone in the world.

* * *

Draco sat down at the Slytherin table in a seat that enabled him to look across the Great Hall and observe the three friends that had suddenly become very important to him. Pinning them with a steely gaze his mind was working overtime, which of the golden trio was his mate? Pansy Parkinson watched Draco and misinterpreting his look for one of malevolence decided to comment, with a small smile lighting her face.

"Well, well, Draco, getting started a bit early aren't we?"

"What are you talking about Pansy?"

"Usually you wait until the second day of school to kill Potter, but the frown your wearing looks like it would kill at fifty paces"

"Pans, shut up would you? I have had a trying day."

It was a sign of how much power Draco had within the Slytherin house when he was obeyed by Pansy without further comment. She gave him a reproachful look from beneath pouty eyelashes but did not pursue the subject. Suddenly the doors of the Great Hall burst open and Professor McGonagall entered with two lines of first years following her, Draco watched with the rest of Slytherin as the new first years walked by, but tuned out what happened afterwards, only clapping when he noticed the rest of the table clapping. The rest of the time Draco watched the Gryffindor table, trying to determine which person was supposed to be his mate. He was quite annoyed, for years he had acted as if he hated the three Gryffindors, keeping with the image of being nasty and a Death Eaters son. Truth be told, he had no intention of shackling himself to the Dark Lord, but there was no way he was letting anyone know that, he'd seen how bad his father had been after some meetings and that was when he'd done everything that Voldemort had asked. How roughed up would Lucius have been if his son was seen opposing the cause? He could even be killed and there was no way Draco was going to lose a parent, his mother's death had been hard on him and that had been a natural deterioration, to lose his father to a murderer would be one hundred times worse.

In truth, Draco actually admired the three Gryffindors. That Hermione had succeeded as much as she had when she hadn't even known of her gifts til she was eleven never stopped to amaze him. The fact that Ron and his family persisted in their beliefs regardless of the size of the rewards impressed him, despite the fact that he had always been taught to weigh the rewards against the consequences and the work required. And finally Harry. That Harry had faced such huge obstacles and adversaries placed in his young life and emerged triumphant time and time again had everyone in the wizarding world in awe and Draco was definitely part of the wizarding world, he just would never admit it aloud.

"Draco!" he felt an elbow hit his rib. Looking up he saw Blaise looking at him in confusion.

"Draco, the food has been on the table for the last five minutes, are you going to eat at all tonight?" Blaise asked.

Draco shook his head and with a rueful grimace he started to eat.

* * *

Harry thought idly that there was just something about the welcoming feast at Hogwarts that made it better than any other feast throughout the school year. He didn't know if it was that the food was better, but he didn't think so, if it was that there was no worries weighing on him at the beginning of the year or if it was being able to see all his friends again. He thought it was a combination of the last two factors, it was great being among his school mates again, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Neville, Seamus and Dean, they were like his extended family and it felt wonderful to be among them again. Harry felt safe to be back at Hogwarts as well, after the events of the summer he felt conflicted about a great number of things and Hogwarts had come to represent a sanctuary to him. He knew that no where was really safe, but with being under the care of the teachers, Dumbledore, Snape, McGonagall, Remus, some of the most powerful wizards alive, he felt at ease.

It was also wonderful to not have to worry about whether his groceries would last anymore, after that first trip to the store Harry had felt too uneasy to venture out again. He had been exposed to muggle violence for the first time in his life and he hadn't known what to do, Voldemort was easy, he wanted to take over the world, he was bad, he had to be stopped. But an innocent shop owner had been killed because someone wanted money… That did not make sense to Harry, how much money was a human life worth? Harry didn't know, but it was worth more than what would have been found in Mark's cash register.

Noticing that the feast had finished and the rest of the school was moving to the dormitories, the Gryffindor first years following their Head Girl, Hermione Granger, he moved too, following the crowd. Reaching the Gryffindor tower Harry went up to the seventh year boys dorm room and went to bed, his dreams full of death and blood and violence.

* * *

The next morning found Harry in a very bad mood and headed towards the dungeons for his first potions class of the year. Sitting down at the back of the class he rested his head in his hands, trying to work up the energy to be attentive in Snape's class. The dreams he'd had last night had left him feeling drained and listless and not in the mood to concentrate, when the doors banged open he lifted his head with a jerk, watching Professor Snape stride into the class.

"Today we will be seeing what you have retained; I want you all to brew this potion"

And with that he rapped his wand on the black board and the potion ingredients and method appeared on the board. Snape obviously wasn't in a good mood either. Harry sighed and started to assemble his ingredients in front of him, as he did so he looked around the class seeing who was there; it was a small class this year, only him and Hermione from Gryffindor, one Hufflepuff, three Ravenclaws and two Slytherins.

"Potter! What are you doing!" Snape snapped, startling Harry out of his reverie. "That ingredient is not part of the potion! Are you trying to kill us all with the explosion you would have created when you added that ingredient?"

Harry looked down and groaned, he had wormwood in his hands, an ingredient that was definitely not on the board.

"Come down the front boy, so I can keep and eye on you. Sit next to Mr Malfoy, hopefully he will be able to stop you from any catastrophic accidents" Snape whirled around and walked to the front of the room where Draco was seated and indicated the seat he wanted Harry to move to. Harry stifled his groan and moved his stuff.

"Potter, I'm warning you, you mess up my grade point average and I will…" Draco trailed off again, as he had on the train, eyes widening.

Draco was stunned, that wonderful scent that he had smelt yesterday, the most incredible scent he had ever smelled, it was like all his favourite foods, flowers and memory scents all rolled into one, was back. And this time he knew exactly where it was coming from, his heart gave a leap and the yearning ache inside of him ceased, Draco Malfoy had found his mate. The person who was his soul mate was Harry Potter. Shaking his head, Draco gave a start

"I… I will,"

"Yes, Malfoy? Do what?" Harry asked, patience running thin.

"Oh forget it; let's just get this over with. Try not to stuff up!" Draco spent the rest of the class in silence; he needed time to think about this.


	9. Potions Class

Disclaimer: Anything that you recognise does not belong to me; it belongs to the very talented J.K. Rowling. Lucky her! I am doing this purely to see if I can, I am not making any money off of this what so ever. Unlucky me!

Also, I have read a lot of stories on this site, so if anything is familiar, it is not on purpose… Could you simply take it as an homage?

* * *

Well this is just great, abso-sodding-lutely fan-bloody-tastic thought Draco as he added skinned shrivel figs to his cauldron. My mate, the person I am destined to be with forever, is the saviour of the wizarding world, the one person I need to appear to loath more than anyone else. Why do these things always happen to me? I mean, I am a good person, I work hard, I respect my elders, what have I done to deserve this? Fully involved in his self pity, Draco did not notice when he started to deviate off the potion on the board. Suddenly a hand grabbed his wrist.

"Hey, watch it! Malfoy if you stuff up _my_ grade point average I will definitely make your life miserable! I didn't endure two weeks of straight up boredom to have Professor Snape give up on me on the first day!" Harry lectured as he removed the vial of holy water from Draco's hand and quickly added some salt to neutralise the effect of the lemon juice Draco had inadvertently added. Draco, concentrating very hard on not swooning at Harry's touch, drew his attention back to the task at hand.

"Right, sorry." He muttered looking up at the board to see where he was up to.

Slowly he was regaining his senses and what Harry had said filtered through his befuddled brain.

"What do you mean two weeks of boredom?" He asked curiously

"I spent two weeks in my room at the end of the holidays learning my books and reviewing the past couple of years work." Harry replied tersely "I decided to get a head start so I would be able to keep up easier." Suddenly Harry stopped, "Why am I telling you this? You don't want to hear it. I'm going to get back to work, don't do anything stupid Malfoy."

With that, the two young men went back to work, both absorbed in their potions and no other mishaps occurred for the duration of the lesson. When the lesson had reached the stage when the potion only needed to be stirred every five minutes Draco went back to his own thoughts. It was well known that Harry was Voldemort's main target, he'd even overheard his father nattering about some kind of prophecy that involved the two and one not living while the other lived, of course he wasn't supposed to know about that, he'd overheard it one night when he'd been snooping through his parent's room for anything interesting and his father had walked in talking to Narcissa. How would this affect Draco though, having his mate in mortal peril on a regular basis? How was he going to play quidditch against the guy for crying out loud? Were veelas able to harm their mates? He certainly didn't want to harm Harry, nor did he like the idea of anyone else hurting him come to think of it. But then again, he had never really wanted to harm Harry intentionally, the hexes and curses between them over the years had always been non-harmful, mainly stuff that caused things to grow or embarrassing situations. Resolving to read his Defence text book again to see if there were any answers to his questions, Draco packed up his things and left the classroom after depositing his finished potion on his Godfathers desk.

* * *

Harry stared after Draco thoughtfully; the Potions class had been an interesting lesson. He was quite proud of the fact that he had been able to successfully complete the potion on the board and it seemed that he had retained at least some of the information he had learnt over the summer holidays as he had known what to do to fix Draco's mistake. What had been really interesting though was the blonde's attitude towards him, not once had the Slytherin been nasty to him and he hadn't set out to sabotage Harry's potion or anything. In fact the only time Draco had sounded like he was going to insult Harry; he had faded off and never completed the threat. He had also sounded genuinely curious to hear about Harry's summer when he had mentioned it, that was another thing Harry couldn't believe; he had willingly shared information with Malfoy. Not very interesting information and he had been purposely vague about the circumstances but he and Malfoy had… talked. Like normal acquaintances, not the mortal enemies that Harry knew them to be. Hermione came up to stand next to Harry

"You ok?" She asked, looking at Harry with a concerned expression

When Harry had told her and Ron about what happened during the summer holidays yesterday her heart had been filled with compassion. Hermione couldn't imagine what Harry must be going through in his mind at the moment, but she had worried when Professor Snape had placed him next to Draco Malfoy for the class, what her friend did not need at the moment was an hour and forty five minutes of verbal abuse and mind games.

"Yeah," Harry answered

He finished packing his equipment into his bag and put his finished potion on Professor Snape's desk, still looking at the door that the blonde had left though moment earlier.

"Just a bit confused" he elaborated with a rueful smile at his favourite girl in the world.

"Confused?" Hermione questioned

"Yeah, Malfoy and I made it through an entire lesson without either of us seriously damaging the other in any way, shape or form. I even saved him from stuffing up his potion permanently if you can believe that."

"Harry, that's wonderful news!" Hermione squeeled, she squeezed Harry around the waist in an impromptu hug as they walked up the stairs, away from the dungeons.

"Did you do some study during the holidays?" Hermione was very excited; usually she couldn't get either of her boys to do any study at school let alone at home during the holidays.

"Yeah, after what happened with Mark, I didn't really feel like going out, so I read my books, and our books from last year, and my old assignments." Harry said softly, the smile that had been beginning to grow with Hermione's excitement dying on his face. "Ask me anything, I followed your lead and memorised the books." He said, the smile returning as his best female friend stared at him in shock.

Hermione quickly recovered, "Oh my goodness, this is going to be such a great year!" She exclaimed, "You are going to be so ahead with all that you know so any homework we get will be easy, and with you doing your homework Ron will too and this is just going to be great! You guys will be able to blitz NEWTs because of your study; oh I am just so proud of you both!"

"Mi, I think your getting a bit ahead of yourself, why don't we wait until we get our first piece of homework and go from there, hey?" Harry suggested with a smile. Hermione might scoff at Divination, but she had just done a very good job at predicting a rosy future for himself and Ron.

"Oh shush you, come one, we've got Defence now, let's go find Ron"

Ron had decided against becoming an auror, preferring to follow in his brother Bill's shoes by going into Gringotts, the wizarding bank, this had enabled him to drop Potions, something that he loved to lord over Harry, he didn't have to put up with Snape anymore but Harry did.

Collecting Ron and their books from the Gryffindor common room they made their way to the Defence Against the Dark Arts classroom and took seats at the front. Remembering their third year, most of the seventh years were eagerly anticipating Professor Lupin's defence class; he was one of the only competent DADA teachers they had had in their school careers.

* * *

A certain blonde Slytherin sitting in the back of the classroom groaned when he saw the trio walk into the room. Not only was his mate in this class but so was the smartest girl in the school, if anyone would be able to work out his secret it would be her. Draco's dreams of a stress free seventh year went flying out the classroom window as the three Gryffindors sat down. 


	10. Defence Class

Disclaimer: Anything that you recognise does not belong to me; it belongs to the very talented J.K. Rowling. Lucky her! I am doing this purely to see if I can, I am not making any money off of this what so ever. Unlucky me!

Also, I have read a lot of stories on this site, so if anything is familiar, it is not on purpose… Could you simply take it as an homage?

AN: **cherrity**: Woops! I forgot! Thankyou to the wonderful Quentin Tarrantino for bringing Pulp Fiction to our screens and giving us the immortal line "Lets Get In Character" (when Samuel L. Jackson and John Travolta are in the hallway, just about to go in and kill those guys for Marcellus Wallace at the beginning of the film). Also, the letter is coming, I am saving it for when I run out of things to write about!

* * *

Remus Lupin walked into his seventh year defence class five minutes before the bell and, seeing that he entire class was in their seats looking at him expectantly, clapped his hand with a broad grin

"Good Morning All! As I see everyone is here I think we shall get started right away, and then we can have a longer lunch break than everyone else. Any objections? No? Good. Now, first things first, my confession. I, Remus John Lupin, am a werewolf. I received the bite when I was very young, but thankfully I no longer turn into a fully fledged monster once a month due to Professor Snape's excellent skills as a potions maker. Does anyone know what potion Professor Snape brews for me?"

Hermione and Harry's hand were raised.

Professor Lupin waved towards them, "Yes, Hermione?"

"You receive the Wolfsbane Potion, a very complex potion that allows you to keep your mind when you transform. You simply turn into a wolf and can spend the night curled up in front of the fire" Hermione answered, remembering back to what the Professor had told them in the Shrieking Shack in third year.

"Well done Hermione. Well yes, there you have it, you all know my secret. Gosh, that feels good to get it off my chest. Does anyone else have anything they want to share with the class? No-one with mermaid blood? Anyone a part veela? No-one with a bit of fairy in them?"

The class had been smiling at Professor Lupin's 'confession' as the entire school had been told of his condition at the welcoming feast, but at Professor Lupin's queries they started laughing out loud.

"Oh no, this is not a laughing matter; wizards _can_ intermingle with other species, creating new races. Take Hagrid for example, he is a part giant" said Professor Lupin, talking over the laughter, "And that is what we are going to be concentrating on for the year, magical beings. I have read over what you did last year and you seem very well versed in protection spells and hexes so this year we will be looking at other magical species and how they can help with defence, or on the flip side, how to defend yourselves against them. Now I would like you all to open up your text books to page four and read the introduction chapter. Tomorrow we will start on the practical learning, but for today we are just going to read about the theory."

The rest of the class passed with the students doing silent reading and Professor Lupin going from student to student asking questions about their prior learning and making notes on a piece of parchment. Some students he spent more time with, mainly Harry, Hermione, Ron and the other D.A. members as they had learnt many more hexes and defensive spells than the others. They had continued to meet regularly as a group and practice defence work and learn new spells, even though the ministry was fully behind promoting Voldemort's return and dangers now days. The Professor also lingered at Draco, asking him inconsequential questions and not really writing much down. The blonde hoped it was just because he was a death eater's son, but had a sinking suspicion it was for a very different reason.

* * *

Draco got his answer at the end of class that day.

"Okay everyone, it's now ten minutes before lunch, as we started early I am going to let you go now. Mr Malfoy, could you please stay for a minute? Don't worry you haven't done anything wrong, I would just like you to show me one of the shields you said you could do. I don't think I have ever seen the Rius shield in motion before, and I just can't pass up this opportunity."

Draco stood by the teacher's desk watching as his classmates left the classroom.

"Rius Shield, Sir?

"Yes Draco, it is incredibly complex and when Miss Granger looks it up she will be suitably impressed with you. I would even think that soon certain students will be able to do the Rius Shield, so if you want to continue the deception maybe you could learn it too? Did you know that werewolves have an extremely sensitive sense of smell?" Lupin asked, suddenly changing the subject.

"Um, no Sir?"

"Well, they do, even in human form, some of the traits of the wolf never leave and a heightened sense of smell is one of them. And as I was walking through the class determining what I needed to teach and what I didn't, I noticed an interesting scent coming from you. Do you have any idea why?"

"Um, no Sir?"

"I think Mr Malfoy, that when I talked about wizards with mermaid blood, or part veelas, many people in this class thought it was a joke, but there were at least two people in this class that did not, one, we must assume was Miss Granger, because lets face it, she must have memorised the text book by now. And the other Mr Malfoy, I think was you." Seeing that Draco was about to dispute that idea, Remus continued talking, "Now, I am not going to ask you to tell me anything that might be weighing on your mind, I know how hard it can be to give up secrets. But I will give you this book and tell you that I am here, if you ever have any questions. Your Godfather is pretty knowledgeable about things as well, if you don't want to talk about this to any old teacher."

'Thankyou Professor" Draco looked down at the book and saw it was entitled, _101 Curses Any Teenager Should Know_, looking back up at Professor Lupin, he saw a small smile cross his defence teacher's face.

"Its spelled to look like something innocuous, as to not give anything away, its really a book by Mathew O'Laughlan, _Mystical Beings and Their Lives_. Despite the ridiculous title it is the most comprehensive book on magical beings that I have been able to find. The werewolf section is brilliant, as are the other chapters about the other beings he chose to cover, veelas, vampires, merpeople, giants to name a few."

"Thankyou Professor" Draco repeated as he left the classroom and made his way to the great hall for lunch.

* * *

"Look at this" Hermione said shoving a book towards Harry, "This Rius Shield that Draco can do looks like something we all ought to know. How about we work on it this week at the DA?"

"Sounds like a good idea Hermione" Harry answered absently, looking across the hall towards Draco, he was deeply immersed in a book and not paying any attention to his surrounding Slytherins. Suddenly, as if sensing someone was watching him, the blonde looked up and stared directly at Harry

"Ah!" Harry gasped, his ring suddenly getting very warm on his little finger; it had been doing that a lot recently, on the train, in potions class and now here in the great hall. He was starting to wish that Sirius had written down what the stone did as it was kind of disconcerting having it go hot and cold at random times.

"You alright mate?" Ron asked through a mouthful of shepherd's pie.

"Yeah, just got startled that's all" Harry answered

"It wasn't, you know, your scar was it?"

Harry, who'd forgotten about his dream last night in all the excitement of going back to classes, gave a start.

"No, it wasn't him. That reminds me though, I need to go to Professor Snape to see if we can continue with remedial potions" Harry and Professor Snape had reached a truce last year, and had restarted occulmency lessons. Harry had a feeling that some of what he had learnt might have been forgotten over the summer holidays as he'd had that dream last night.

* * *

The next few weeks passed peacefully enough for Harry, his time falling into a routine, classes during the day, DA one night a week, captaining the quidditch team two nights a week, 'remedial potions' another night and keeping on top of all the homework the teachers set him kept him quite busy. As well as that, Hermione had already started up a study routine for him to follow on a Sunday, and though he complained to her about the ridiculousness of the timing, Harry stuck to it, enjoying the way that he could remember facts and theories a lot easier this year than he had been able to in the past. Even the Slytherins seemed to be getting serious as Harry, Ron and Hermione had not had any run-ins with Malfoy, Crabbe or Goyle since the beginning of school.

What they didn't know was that the Slytherin trio were hell bent on avoiding them as much as possible, or at least the public leader of the trio was.


	11. A DNM

Disclaimer: Anything that you recognise does not belong to me; it belongs to the very talented J.K. Rowling. Lucky her! I am doing this purely to see if I can, I am not making any money off of this what so ever. Unlucky me!

Also, I have read a lot of stories on this site, so if anything is familiar, it is not on purpose… Could you simply take it as an homage?

* * *

Finally, during a herbology class half way through the first term, Draco snapped. Professor Sprout had assigned the class the task of repotting adolescent Mandrakes, and it required their full attention as the Mandrakes were typical teenagers; surly, hell bent on being potted in pots next to their friends and trying to attack any Mandrake they thought was not of their social standing. Draco was not having such a good run in herbology as Harry was in this class too, and after weeks of being neglected, his veela side was clamouring for the attention of his mate. It was all Draco could do to keep his magneticism under control, as it was his eyes strayed far too often to Harry's side of the green house for his liking.

It was halfway though the lesson, just before they had to put on their earmuffs, that trouble started.

"Draco, pass me a pot would you?" Vincent grunted,

He was getting ready to pull his mandrake, and as Draco looked up to pass him the pot Vince signalled to Draco 'YOU'RE STARING'. Draco cursed under his breath, this was not good, he had told his friends that Harry was his mate and told them to warn him when he was acting out of character. He thought he'd been doing pretty well the last few weeks, avoiding Harry and his friends turned out to be pretty easy, they stuck to a very predictable routine if one took time to learn it, breakfast-class-lunch-class-dinner-library-after class activity-bed. The activities were things such as quidditch, DA or remedial potions, which Draco really didn't understand, he'd seen Harry in that class and he was almost as good as he was and that was saying a lot, he was top of the class in Potions. Looking up again he saw that a girl from Hufflepuff was talking to Harry; some girl was flirting with his mate! Draco could feel anger rise up in his chest, how dare that girl try and steal Harry away from him, his silver eyes flashed dangerously. Suddenly the air in the greenhouse shifted and the girl from Hufflepuff gave a shriek of surprise as she felt something knock into her and send her flying across the greenhouse.

Watching the girl slide across the floor gave Draco a deep feeling of contentment and with a small, almost indiscernible, smile on his face he continued on with his work, not noticing that apart from Crabbe and Goyle he was the only one doing so. A bushy haired girl eyed him curiously as she bent to give poor Elouise a hand up.

* * *

Hermione pulled Harry aside that night as they were studying in the library

"Harry, are you free for one of our chats tonight? I have something I need to tell you" she whispered

Harry and Hermione had fallen into the habit of stealing away every now and again and having little 'chats' about their lives, their worries and their secrets. No-one really knew about them, Ron always assumed that they were doing extra study so he left them alone, which was good for Hermione as she had been having more than friendly feelings for Ron for more than a year and they were one of the main topics in these chats.

"Yeah, have you got developments you want to report?" Harry asked, looking over the top of his advanced transfigurations book.

"I'll tell you later"

* * *

"So, you know how I told you that Ron kissed me during the summer holidays? Well, he did it again! And he said that he really liked me AND he wants to take me to coffee and Madame Puddlefoots next Hogsmeade weekend" Hermione shrieked in an excited whisper

Harry shut, locked and warded the History of Magic classroom door.

"Wow Hermione! Progress! The Plan is working!" Harry said laughingly.

The Plan was nothing more than Hermione touching Ron more than usual, smiling at him for no real reason and that was about it. For such a quick thinker Hermione had no real knowledge about hooking guys and the Plan had become a bit of a joke between Hermione and Harry, although Hermione swore she would right a book about hooking guys with the Plan if she got Ron. And Harry had no illusions that she wouldn't if her Plan worked.

"Oh I hope so Harry, I really like him, and I think he really likes me! He just needs a little bit of encouragement."

Harry knew that Ron did have feelings for their bushy haired friend, but had been sworn to secrecy and could do nothing more than strenuously encourage both sides of the couple to make their moves. Because of this, Harry just smiled and mumbled vague comments whenever Hermione said things like that.

The two friends sat against the wall of the classroom chatting well into the night about what Hermione could wear, what they cold talk about and where Hermione and Ron could go after the coffee shop. After a while Hermione broached a question that had been weighing on her mind for a while

"Harry, do you have feelings for anyone?"

Harry thought for a while before answering in a thoughtful voice

"It's kind of hard to, you know Mi? Whether I like it or not, I am The Boy Who Lived and there will always be people who want to be with me because of that. I guess I am wary of falling for someone, just in case they, instead of returning my feelings, just pretend to, if only for the chance of being seen as the girlfriend or boyfriend of Harry Potter. I also worry about the possibility of having a relationship with someone, and being really happy and having them turn into a target for Voldemort as a result of knowing me. I worry enough about you, Ron and the rest of the Weasley's as it is, I don't think I could handle the stress of worrying for another person as well."

"Do yo think you will ever fall in love?"

"I'd like to. I don't think there is anything in this world better than being loved just for being you. I would love to be loved just for being Harry. Not for what I can do for people, not for what I own, just for being me. And I would love to love someone just for being them. But at the moment, I don't think that is very possible, not with his Dark Lordship looming over everyone's head, and me being the only one who can kill him."

Hermione and Ron had been told of the prophecy last year, and though they thought it was a horrible burden for their friend to carry they had vowed to support him and be there for him in every way possible.

"Harry, do you like boys or girls?" Hermione asked curiously, noticing that he had said boyfriend _or_ girlfriend of Harry Potter

"I don't really know, Mione. I reckon anyone who would like me for being me could be worth a second look, but why would anyone like me for me? I am just some freak whose main goal in life is to kill someone"

At the mention of the word 'freak' Hermione's heart became heavy with sadness for her best friend. It made her so upset with the world that someone as nice and as sweet and as genuine as Harry would doubt that he would ever be loved. She wished that she could have ten minutes of unsupervised time with the Dursley's to show them just how angry she was that they had emotionally scarred their nephew for goodness knows how long. She also knew that she would have to get in a very long line to teach the Dursley's a lesson, and that heading up that line would be Professor Dumbledore, Mrs Weasley, Professor McGonagall and Remus Lupin to name a few, hell, she wouldn't be surprised if Sirius managed to come back from the afterlife to throw in his two cents. Giving Harry a big hug, she smiled a big bright (false) smile

"Come on, its late, we should be in bed, we have a charms test first thing in the morning!

* * *

The next morning Draco decided to try a little experiment, his father had tutored him extensively in controlling his gift of attracting people and he decided to try it out on Harry, just to see what would happen. After charms, which they had together, Draco followed Harry out of the classroom as he wandered out with his friends and, seeing his opening as Harry stooped to tie his shoes, Draco sped up and 'tripped' over Harry. Bing sent sprawling across the hallway with Draco on top of him did not make Harry to happy and he glared up at the blonde haired Slytherin

"What's your problem Malfoy, why can't you watch…"

Harry had started off indignant, but trailed of as the most amazing sensation swept over him, it felt as if he was enveloped in a warm blanket, that there were no problems in his world, he also felt an overwhelming desire to get closer to Draco. As he was endeavouring to do this his mind ground to a halt, Draco? He was attracted to MALFOY? Wrenching his mind away from the wonderful sensations assaulting his body, Harry shoved Draco off of him

"Just, watch where you're going Malfoy" Harry said, walking off after his friends and trying not to look back in confusion.


	12. Caution, Plotting Slytherin's at work!

Disclaimer: Anything that you recognise does not belong to me; it belongs to the very talented J.K. Rowling. Lucky her! I am doing this purely to see if I can, I am not making any money off of this what so ever. Unlucky me!

Also, I have read a lot of stories on this site, so if anything is familiar, it is not on purpose… Could you simply take it as an homage?

* * *

Draco was not in a good mood. Sitting in the Slytherin common room after classes staring into the flickering fire, Draco thought back to that morning after charms. It had felt wonderful being pressed up against his mate like that, and he had felt Harry responding to the attraction, but then it had all gone wrong. Harry had pushed aside the attraction and pushed Draco away as well. Why had it not worked? What had gone wrong? His attention was diverted as Vince and Greg sat down across from him. Through the code they had worked out Draco told his two friends about what had happened in the corridor outside of the charms room and how his experiment had not gone as well as he had thought it would all the while talking about the charms quiz as to not attract any attention from the other Slytherins in the common room. Vince responded that maybe he was out of practice, while Greg wandered off to get something. Returning, he handed Draco an open book with something highlighted magically

_The mate of a veela is impervious to the charms of their mate. While in the beginning of the relationship the mate might be susceptible to the veela's charms they can eventually throw the charms off. The veela's charms are mainly for attracting prey as they eat small woodland animals native to their habitat. In the case of part veelas, when the veela has mated with a wizard, the main use for their charms is to change the situation they are in to their advantage, as they do not eat small woodland animals. _

Well, at least we know why my experiment did not work as I imagined, thought Draco, raising his eyebrows at Vince and Greg. Using hand signals and gestures Draco communicated with his friends, 'How do I get him then?'

After that prolonged contact with his mate Draco's veela instincts were getting stronger, all he wanted was to be with his mate, unfortunately his mate did not yet know that he actually wanted to be with Draco too. Draco had thought long and hard about his next move and he decided that, as he was not properly equipped or trained in the art of intrigue, he needed to go to the experts. And who better than the man who could manipulate the Dark Lord into believing he was a loyal follower, while reporting directly to Dumbledore the entire time? Draco knew things even his father didn't.

* * *

When he heard a knock at his office door Severus Snape raised his head

"Enter"

To say that he was surprised to see his Godson pop his head around the door was an understatement, but true to form Severus did not let his mental state be shown, hiding it behind the inscrutable mask he always wore

"Sev, I need help"

"Help?"

"Yes oh Godfather of mine, help"

With the use of the term Godfather, Severus knew that what Draco needed help with was a personal issue. Moving with swift, graceful movements he set his desk in order and stood, gesturing to Draco to precede him into his private sitting rooms. Once both men were sitting comfortably Severus posed his question

"So what is troubling you?"

"You know I am a part veela right?" Draco asked. A quirk of his Godfather's eyebrow gave him his answer and he continued, "Well I have found my mate."

"Have you told your father?"

"No, I would rather not at this present time."

"And why is that?"

Draco decided to put it bluntly, "Because, my mate is Harry Potter"

Draco was suddenly faced with a man whom he did not recognise as his Godfather. Gone was the carefully masked face, and in its place was a myriad of emotions, surprise and worry being most predominant. He also had the dubious honour of hearing his Godfather's extensive collection of profanities. Cataloguing a few words, phrases and suggestions away for future use he broke in on his Godfather's rambling monologue

"This is why I have come to you Sev. You are one of the best strategists I know and I need your help in this. My one plan did not work and I cannot think of how I am going to be able to get my supposed enemy to fall in love with me. I don't even know if he is gay for crying out loud! Come to think of it, I didn't even know I was gay until my sense of smell told me my soul mate is Harry freaking Potter!

During his rant, Draco had gotten more and more upset, eventually getting up to pace the length of the sitting room in front of the two chairs that he and his Godfather were sitting in. Severus decided to break in before his Godson got too hysterical.

"Draco! Calm down, you are going to give yourself an aneurism"

Draco collapsed back into his chair and buried his head in his hands.

"I just don't know what to do Sev, why can't I just date, and flirt, and find a partner that way? Why can't I just be normal?"

"My dear boy, when are you going to realise that being normal is not a virtue? It rather denotes a lack of courage."

Severus leaned forward in his chair and steepled his fingers

"You are not normal Draco, and even if you did not have this particular gift you still wouldn't be normal. You are a Malfoy and they have never been considered normal by any standards. Now, we are going to apply ourselves to this particular problem you are having and we are going to solve it. You are going to get your mate and I am going to have a peaceful life, because hopefully you will then transfer your whining to him and not come to me for solutions to all of your problems."

Draco grinned, his Godfather's words might be harsh, but he had had enough experience with Severus Snape to realise that his Godfather loved him like a son and would go to the ends of the earth to ensure Draco was safe and happy. Even if it meant helping to play matchmaker for his Godson and his own enemies' son.

* * *

The next Monday in the morning Potion's class, Plan A went into effect. Severus, resplendent in his role of resident bastard, swept into the classroom holding his seventh year NEWTs class and announced an assignment worth fifty percent of their grade that was to be done in assigned pairs. Hermione and Harry clung to each other in desperate hope that they would be paired up, but Snape, being Snape, left them with no illusions that this could happen.

"The pairs are; Bones-Boot, Granger-MacMillan, Malfoy-Potter, Ruckman-Zabini, stop your groaning, the pairs are assigned alphabetically, this is not some personal vendetta I have against this class, no matter what you might believe."

Snape then continued on to outline the assignment, announcing that they were to use class time as well as time outside of class to complete the assignment and that it would be due three weeks after Christmas, six weeks from now. After giving the students the outline, Snape retreated behind his desk and watched his seventh year class look around in confusion with a smirk hidden behind the mask. Slowly Professor Snape's announcement sunk into the students' heads and they started getting into their assigned pairs. Harry deciding to take the initiative and grabbed his things and went to sit at the same desk as Malfoy.

"So, how do you want to tackle this?" Harry asked Draco

Draco smirked as he pondered how to answer the question, he could think of many ways he wanted to tackle Harry, but somehow he didn't think that is what Harry meant. Draco mentally sent large amounts of thanks to his Godfather for creating a situation in which he got to spend oodles of time with his mate, learning more about him, and hopefully getting the opportunity to show Harry that he wasn't such a bad guy.

* * *

Once again we are going to play "find the movie quote"! Ten points to whoever finds it, I was very upset that no-one found "Lets get in character" as was my Dad, who's favourite movie is Pulp Fiction... He says you all need to be educated in great movie lines! 


	13. The Incident In The Library

Disclaimer: Anything that you recognise does not belong to me; it belongs to the very talented J.K. Rowling. Lucky her! I am doing this purely to see if I can, I am not making any money off of this what so ever. Unlucky me!

Also, I have read a lot of stories on this site, so if anything is familiar, it is not on purpose… Could you simply take it as an homage?

AN: The quote in the last chapter was "When are you going to realise that being normal is not a virtue, it rather denotes a lack of courage" from the movie "Practical Magic" driector: Griffin Dunne

* * *

Wednesday night found Harry and Draco meeting in the library to discuss their assignment. They wanted to work out a battle plan for completing the monumental task Professor Snape had set the class, regarding healing potions, before they did any serious research. The two teens had very different attitudes towards this meeting, Draco was full of nervous anticipation at spending one on one time with his mate and Harry was filled with resolution and dread. He knew he had to do these meetings to pass the class, and he did want to do well in school this year, but he was dreading what the Prince of Slytherin had to say to him. For Draco's part he knew he had to play up to expectations, but he just had no desire to do so. His veela side was clamouring to let itself be known, to shower the dark haired boy with compliments and praise, to snog him senseless and basically throw his mate on the nearest flat surface and shag him senseless. In light of these urges Draco had had an emergency meeting with Vincent and Gregory where they had worked out a game plan for Wednesday night. If Draco couldn't control his urges, Vincent would simply sit at the other end of the table and use their code to control them for him.

Walking into the library, Harry saw Draco sitting at a table, already waiting for him, with Crabbe sitting down the other end. Hermione, who had come with him to do some studying herself, gave Harry's arm a light squeeze and went to sit across from Crabbe. She was far enough away from the pair to not be intrusive, but still close enough to hear what was going on in case things got ugly.

Crabbe scratched his head and gave two coughs

"So Potter, finally decided to arrive, what was the matter, adoring fans hold you up?"

"Shut up Malfoy, lets get this over with," Harry responded, putting his books on the table and sitting across from Draco.

Sighing simultaneously the boys opened their books and started to look for relevant information regarding plants with healing qualities. Harry was the first to find something and touched Draco's arm to get his attention

"Okay, so how about we explain about the healing powers of mirkwood first and then go on to describe how it affects certain potions"

Looking up, Harry noticed that Draco had gone glassy eyed and seemed not to be listening

"Malfoy? Malfoy! Draco! Look, if you're not going to pay attention I'm going to go to Professor Snape and ask for another partner."

Malfoy snapped out of the stupor he had fallen into at the feel of his mates touch on his arm and looked wildly at Vince for directions on what to say. After a moments deliberation Vince slammed his book shut and ruffled his hair.

"Well I am sure your pet headmaster wouldn't mind bending the rules for you yet again Potter. Don't you get tired of kissing the old coot's ass?"

"Shove it Malfoy. Look, you are supposed to be the best potions student in the school, and I want to do well this year. After all the work I put in over the summer I deserve to do well, and I do not want some spoiled brat messing up my chances! So, can we please put aside this childish pettiness and work together to pass?"

Vincent clicked his ball point pen three times

"You know that's the second time you have bought up your hard work over the summer in as many conversations. So you did some work, big deal. What, no murders over the summer to mess up your plans?"

Vince suddenly knocked his books off the desk, he'd been reading Harry's body language and knew the boy was close to snapping, he had to get his friend off this topic, but his ABORT signal was too late. Harry pushed back his chair and stormed out of the library, with no regard for his belongings that he left alone.

* * *

Hermione knew her friend's moods and she left him to go find a quiet place to remember his boss while she packed up his stuff. She had a lot to think about. While she had been studying she had also been watching Crabbe. Though he had appeared to be studying (which in itself was amazing), he had not actually written anything down, and what was with all the flipping of pages, and the hair ruffling, and why the hell was he using a ball point pen when he could be using a quill, he wasn't even muggle born! She had been keeping an eye on the Slytherin trio since the greenhouse incident, when they had been the only ones not interested in poor Elouise, and now she resolved to keep an even closer eye on them. If she didn't know better, it seemed almost as if what Crabbe did dictated what Draco said, as Crabbe had only moved before Draco spoke, but that was ridiculous! Everyone knew that while Draco might be intelligent, Crabbe and Goyle were as dumb as the rocks they resembled; they couldn't create a sign language and remember it.

Suddenly Draco snapped out of the shocked stupor he had been sitting in since Harry had made his dramatic exit

"DAMMIT!" He shouted, snapping his quill in half "Vince, can you clean this up, I gotta go after him"

Vince didn't say anything, just scratched the back of his neck

"I don't care! I don't know what I said but I hurt him, and I can't handle that at the moment, he is my – Mudblood, what are you looking at?" Draco snapped, only just noticing that Hermione was still packing up Harry's things.

"Whatever, you get in my way and I will squash you like a bug, got it?" And with that final threat Draco stormed out of the library too, presumably to find Harry, with Hermione and Vincent staring after him.

* * *

Harry stormed through the castle with no particular destination in mind, only with the intention of putting as much space between him and his razor tongued potions partner. He knew that Malfoy didn't know of his circumstances that summer, but it still hurt that someone who barely knew him could pass judgement on his life and say such horrible things seemingly for sport. Finally reaching a dead end near the astronomy staircase Harry sank down to the floor with his back against the wall, breathing heavily. With his heart aching he reached into his pocket and took out the envelope Tonks had given him the day he had found Mark in the shop, opening the envelope he pulled out the letter inside.

_Harry,_

_I know that there is still two weeks left to the summer holidays but I want to give this to you now. I want you to know how proud I am of you, over the past six weeks you have worked harder than I ever expected a summer employee to work. I have often wondered about you, you never say anything about your private life; you just show up, do your work and go home. I am not complaining, you are a very good worker. I just want to let you know that you can relax every now and again! The fate of the world does not rest on your shoulders, live life and enjoy it. Let people in, there are many people out there who care about you I am sure of it, and one in this shop who cares for you too. If you ever need anything Harry, I do not want you to hesitate to come to me. I have come to think of you as more than an employee, I think of you as a friend. I hope you enjoy your school year, and succeed at all you try; if you need a job next summer my door is always open to you. Even if you don't need a job, come and see an old sweet shop owner, I could do with your company to break up the monotony of Little Whinging._

_Mark_

_P.S. I figured you'd be doing the sweet jars today, I think maybe, sorting by flavour would be a good idea, what are your thoughts?_

Also enclosed in the envelope was five hundred pounds, with a small note from Mark, urging him again to enjoy his school year. Harry leaned back against the wall, and fought against the tears of grief that came to his eyes.

* * *

Draco cursed himself and the stupid plan as he moved swiftly through the school, looking for any sign of his mate. Stopping dead, his nostrils flared slightly, he could smell Harry's scent; the combination of his favourite foods, flowers and memory scents all rolled into one. Following the scent as if in a daze Draco wound his way through the castle until he reached the stairs to the astronomy tower. And there, sitting on the floor, holding a worn piece of paper was Harry, looking as if he had lost his best friend. Draco cleared his throat, and Harry slitted open one eye to see who it was.

"Sod off Malfoy"

As he words did not hold any venom, Draco moved forward and sat next to Harry, mimicking the Gryffindor's posture with his back against the wall.

"I'm sorry" Draco decided to just come out and say it, pride and Malfoy street cred be damned.

Harry's green eyes opened in shock as he swivelled his head to look at his unwanted companion

"What's this? A Malfoy, apologising? And to Harry Potter no less! Shhh… If you listen closely, you can hear hundreds of generations of Malfoy's renouncing you from the after life. I don't want your apology; I want you to leave me alone."

"Well tough Harry. I don't know what I did, but I am not leaving until it is sorted out and we can go back to insulting each other without feeling guilty"

"Harry? What the hell is going on? First you apologise and now you call me Harry? Malfoy, go away, I am not in the mood for any of your crap tonight"

"Look, can we just put this aside for the moment, pretend we don't know each other? I am just some person who wants to know if they can help out someone who looks like they need it. Come on Harry, let me in"

Draco's words eerily echoed Mark's letter and Harry found himself relenting and telling the boy he thought was his enemy all about his summer experience. How he had got a job, and come to think of Mark as a friend, how he had felt accepted for one of the first times in his life and how he had found his new friend in a pool of blood one Monday morning. Harry had to give Draco credit, not once did he make any disparaging comments, nor did he cut in at any point of the story, he simply listened, and for Harry, that was exactly what he needed, someone to just be there for him as he unloaded all of his pent up thoughts and emotions. Finally, when Harry had finished, he was surprised to find that Draco was patting his arm in a sympathetic manner. In shock, Harry jumped up

"I gotta go its past curfew. Draco, can you not tell anyone this please?" And with that, Harry turned and made his way quickly down the corridor, in the direction of the Fat Lady's portrait and the safety of the Gryffindor common room. Looking down at his hands in confusion Harry frowned, his ring had been warm all night. He really wished Sirius had written down what the stone did.

* * *

Draco just leant against the wall and watched him go, his heart full of emotion, he couldn't believe the hardships Harry had gone through over the summer, and he could understand him wanting to do well. He was also amazed that Harry had opened up to him so easily, and that he had said Draco's name! He and his mate had made huge progress in their relationship that night, he only hoped that they could continue to build on tonight and not fall back to how it was before, with Harry hating Draco. 


	14. Confusion

Disclaimer: Anything that you recognise does not belong to me; it belongs to the very talented J.K. Rowling. Lucky her! I am doing this purely to see if I can, I am not making any money off of this what so ever. Unlucky me!

Also, I have read a lot of stories on this site, so if anything is familiar, it is not on purpose… Could you simply take it as an homage?

* * *

The next morning as Draco made his way to Ancient Runes he suddenly found himself unceremoniously pulled into an empty classroom and slammed against the wall. Looking up, Draco's heart leapt with joy for standing in front of him was his mate. Unfortunately Harry was glaring at him as if he was pond scum.

"I don't know what spell you had me under last night Malfoy, but if I hear your friends even whisper about what I said, you will pay. My best friend is a very good researcher, as well as Head Girl with unlimited access to the restricted section, and I am sure she could find a curse for me that would make the Cruciatus look like a walk in the park."

Draco was hurt, was his public image that bad that Harry thought he would spread around the deeply personal event Harry had shared with him last night?

"Harry, I don't understand. What are you talking about? What you told me was in confidence, I wouldn't dream of telling anyone else, it's your story to tell, not mine. Why would you think that I would do that?"

"Cut the bullshit Malfoy. Tell anyone and you'll be sorry."

And with that Harry strode out of the classroom leaving the blonde haired boy behind. Draco stared miserably after Harry's retreating back; he thought he had made such progress only to have Harry believe that he was doing this to find information to use against the dark haired Gryffindor.

Harry walked away from Malfoy feeling very conflicted. Last night when he had left the blonde haired Slytherin, he had felt… ok. It had been such a relief to finally unload all that that his mind had felt lighter than it had since two weeks before the school term began. But then doubt had settled in. He had just told his enemy about what happened to him? Voluntarily? How could that be possible? It couldn't be possible he had decided, Draco must have used a charm on him to make him spill his story. Then anger started to build, by the time Harry had spent the entire night envisioning the taunting and the rumours and the stories in the Daily Prophet, he felt he had to do something, which is why he had accosted Draco in the hall on the way to Divination. But now Harry felt a small twinge of guilt, the blonde had looked so hurt and bewildered when Harry was threatening him, could Harry have got it wrong? What was he going to do this afternoon in Potions? As he climbed to rope ladder to the classroom Harry decided to ignore his problems for a while and resolved to simply follow Draco's lead, if he was a git Harry would be a git right back, if he was civil Harry would be civil, if Draco was nice, Harry would be … civil.

* * *

Potions was a strained affair with both boys on tenterhooks around each other. Following Professor Snape's orders to work on their assignments Harry and Draco were sitting at a table in the front on the classroom experimenting with different potions ingredients said to have healing powers. Draco was not exactly feeling very interested in Potions during the class, he was more concerned with the tightness of his chest, apparently Veela do not take well to being threatened by their mates and he was anxious to make amends with Harry, but he didn't know how. Draco's logical side flat out refused to apologise to Harry, he hadn't done anything wrong, it was all Harry's fault, he was the one who overreacted. But his emotional side was clamouring to throw himself at his mate's feet and beg for forgiveness, such indecision had Draco sitting silently, looking over his text book as Harry sliced and diced different ingredients. Harry, sticking to his plan to simply follow Malfoy's lead, was also silent.

"Do you reckon if we add fish oil to the shrink sap it would make a difference?" Harry finally broke the silence

"How do you mean?" Draco looked up at Harry with a questioning frown

"Well, the fish oil has all that amino…."

With that, the two boys were talking again, debating and arguing over certain details and generally conversing til the end of the lesson. With the lesson over and plans to meet again the next night to go over the assignment some more Harry and Draco left the classroom.

* * *

As Harry walked up to the great hall for dinner his mind was racing, he had actually passed two hours with Malfoy without incident! It was amazing, and the weird thing was, he had enjoyed it. It was wonderful to be able to argue with someone who was able to look at Potions from both perspectives, one being the 'well it might work, but it might not and we'd get in trouble' and the other being 'stuff it, if it works great, if not it should make a nice explosion', Hermione, much as Harry loved her could only see Potions from the first perspective. Harry was confident hat the things he and Malfoy were going to try would boost them up a grade if they worked, and with all the research the two of them had been doing in their own time, it was fairly certain that some of the experiments would work. It was also good to have someone who just listened to your thoughts, and didn't try to cut in with their knowledge or opinions, as his friends were sometimes want to do.

"Harry, you in there mate?" Ron waved his hand in front of Harry's face; the dark haired boy had been spaced out all the way into the great hall and seemed to not even notice the food in front of him

"Yeah Ron, I'm fine."

Ron nodded and went back to eating his bangers and mash; he was worried about his friend. Ever since the summer holiday Harry had been quieter and more withdrawn than he usually was. When Ron had told him about how he'd asked Hermione out and how he hoped there was a future there for the two of them, Harry had said all the right things, but it had just seemed as if his heart wasn't in it. He also hadn't offered any information about what was happening with his life either, Ron was worried that his best friend was slipping away from him.

"Hey, Harry, what are you doing after dinner? Wanna hang out like we used to? Just you, me and Hermione, no other interruptions?"

"Sure Ron sounds like fun, you can help me make up my Divination homework, can you believe that we have to look fifty years into the future with a crystal ball? I think I might be living in Australia this time, with a pet kangaroo this time, last time I predicted my death she got a bit sniffy"

"Nah mate, that was just because you predicted a crystal ball falling on your head and smashing your brains in"

Laughing, the two friends set off to the Library to round up Hermione and spend the night talking, joking and generally having a good time.

Draco Malfoy did not have such a good night that night. Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle had heard from their mothers that word had finally come about their fathers. They were never going to return home from the mission Voldemort had sent them on, they were dead. Voldemort had been with them on the mission and had killed them in a fit of rage when his plan did not work. This news had shattered the boys and also strengthened their resolve to never serve under their fathers' master.


	15. We're learning about Veela!

Disclaimer: Anything that you recognise does not belong to me; it belongs to the very talented J.K. Rowling. Lucky her! I am doing this purely to see if I can, I am not making any money off of this what so ever. Unlucky me!

Also, I have read a lot of stories on this site, so if anything is familiar, it is not on purpose… Could you simply take it as an homage?

**A/N:** Thankyou Liz! I am trying, this one is three hundred words more than I usually write, and hopefully the next one will be longer!

* * *

A week later Hermione, Ron and Harry were late for Defence Against the Dark Arts, and were rushing through the corridors as fast as humanly possible, arguing all the way

"Honestly Ron, I cannot believe that you let me get so distracted"

"Hermione, how can you blame me for this? I simply gave you what you wanted and you were the one who forgot the time"

"Oh shut up both of you, it's both your fault, Ron, you shouldn't have forgotten to do your homework and Hermione you should have watched the time while you lectured him. And I can't believe that I was stupid enough to wait for you guys, there aren't going to be any seats left!" Harry panted

They skidded around the corner and could see the door to the classroom, putting on a last burst of speed Hermione, Ron and Harry rushed into the classroom, and with a hurried apology to Professor Lupin scrambled into the only seats left. Ron and Hermione were lucky enough to get seats together, but the only available space for Harry was next to Draco Malfoy. Truth be told, Harry didn't really mind having to sit next to Draco, over the past week they had had two more meetings about their Potions assignment and they had reached a point where they could work and talk as friends, practically forgetting all the years in which they wanted to do grievous bodily harm to one another. Harry hadn't so much as raised his voice or reached for his wand once in Draco's company all week.

Draco smirked at Harry, "Potter"

"Malfoy" Harry replied

Looking up he could see Remus wanted to get on with the class, so he stopped talking to Malfoy and looked towards the front.

"Okay class, today we are going to start to investigate the veela, I trust you have all done your readings, so, can anyone tell me what a veela is?"

Hermione's hand shot into the air as a few other people in the class raised their hands

"Yes, Hermione?"

"Veela are very powerful magic creatures who are found mainly in Bulgaria, their home country. They live in the forest and eat small woodland animals. Veelas are part of the genus of species who are equipped to be able to find their mate by scent, who can be from a number of species, including wizards."

"Ah yes Hermione, I am glad you have mentioned the veela's mate, always remember that veelas are fiercely possessive of their mates, so do not insult their mate if you come across a veela." Professor Lupin said with a smile, "Veelas are one of the creatures who can mate with wizards, creating what are known as 'part veelas'. As you have seen from your books, pure veelas are able to enthral their prey and bend peoples will to suit their purposes; they also morph into birdlike creatures when they are angered and have been known to be able to apparate anywhere in the world, to the side of their mate, unlike wizards, whose longest recorded distance when apparating has been two hundred miles. Can anyone tell me what veelas generally look like? Draco?"

"Veela are physically beautiful creatures, they fit the stereotype of the perfect body shape, the female veela are curvy, yet slender and the males are muscled and slender. Veela usually have silver blonde hair, with silver eyes but there have been some variations to the colouring, raven hair with dark eyes being the next most common colour scheme, all veelas have translucent skin though." Draco answered, glaring at the professor.

Harry looked at Draco in confusion, what as his problem with Remus?

"Correct! Now, part veelas when there is wizard and veela blood, inherit mainly the positive aspects of the veela and the positive aspects of the wizard. A part veela comes into what is called an inheritance on their seventeenth birthday when they take on the physical body type of a veela, keeping their hair and eye colour though. Part veelas are able to identify their mates by scent as pure veelas are; they are also fiercely possessive and can apparate to their mates' side as will. Part veelas also have the potent magic of the veela combined with a wizard's magical strength, making them very powerful indeed. And finally part veelas have the skill to bend people's will to their own, they can emit an attraction that makes people want to please them by doing anything, the part veela needs to be very careful with how they use it, as it can be worse than the Imperius curse."

Hermione was fascinated by this topic, she was watching the teacher closely while taking notes, and noticed that he looked right at Draco Malfoy while speaking, but then he moved on to look at the rest of the class, so she thought nothing of it.

"Now, for the next twenty minutes of the lesson I would like you to discuss with your partner how you could defend against a veela, how a veela could aid you in battle and how you would work at identifying a veela, be it part or pure." Professor Lupin concluded the lecture section of the lesson.

"Damn werewolf" Draco muttered, what was the idiot trying to do? Out him?

"What was that Malfoy?" Harry asked, his eyes flashing dangerously, since Sirius had dies, Remus had kind of taken over the role of Godfather and Harry defended what was his, if someone was going to slur against his Godfather, they'd have to answer to Harry.

'Nothing, I just already know all this stuff, and he wont let me skip this class to o to the library" Draco answered

"How do you know all this Malfoy?" Harry asked with genuine curiosity

"What you think you're the only one that's worked hard since the summer holidays Potter?" Draco asked with a smirk to let Harry know he was not being malicious

Harry looked at Draco in shock and then burst out laughing, that was the first time someone had referenced Mark in a tone that was not hushed and concerned and Harry found it refreshing. Not noticing the stunned expressions of their classmates the two teens then got on with the task of discussing veelas. The rest of the class just stared in shock; including Professor Lupin, Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy were working together without argument? Not only that, Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy were making each other laugh? Had the world ended? Were there mood enhancers in the air? The students were shocked; they never thought they would see the day that the Prince of Slytherin and the Leader of Gryffindor would work together peacefully and happily.

* * *

After class the students made their way to the Great Hall for lunch, and Ron pulled Harry aside.

"What going on with you and Malfoy?" He asked

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, when the hell did you become so friendly? You were laughing and joking in class like you were old friends!" Ron was genuinely confused about what he had just seen, as far as he knew Harry and Draco hated each other

"Ron, we're just being civil to one another to get through this Potions assignment" Harry explained, although a little voice inside his head kept saying that maybe it wasn't just to get through the Potions assignment, maybe he and Draco could actually be come friends, when Draco wasn't being a git, he could actually be semi-decent.

"Civil! How can you be civil? The guy is out to get yo Harry, he serves you-know-who for crying out loud, he could be trying to kill you!"

"I don't know Ron, we have been alone for the Potions assignment plenty of times and he hasn't done anything" Harry didn't mention that Draco had also kept Harry's secret and hadn't told anyone about Mark, somehow Harry didn't think Ron would appreciate hearing that Harry had shared something so personal with Malfoy.

"Look, I will be careful around him and I will be on my guard, but I am not going to go out of my way to antagonise the guy! I need a good mark for Potions this year Ron, if I want any chance at all of becoming an auror."

"Alright mate, just be careful ok?" Ron really did worry about his friend and he didn't want Harry to put himself in danger unknowingly "Come on, lets go to lunch, I am starved."

* * *

In the Great Hall Vince, Greg and Draco sat at the Slytherin table eating their stir fried vegetables when Pansy sat down across form them and started to chat about inconsequential things, as one does at lunch time. Crabbe signalled to Draco "GET HER OUT OF HERE", since they had heard the news about their fathers, Vince and Greg had become even more silent and menacing, and they obviously did not want company, Draco felt sorry for his friends and wanted to help in any way. Suddenly an idea popped into his head; maybe he could use this as a little experiment. Turning to the girl across from him, he directed his veela charm at her

"Pansy, could you please go and sit down the other end of the table? It would really make me happy"

Pansy, turning into a quivering mass of hormones at the attraction being directed towards her immediately acquiesced, she would do anything to make Draco happy she thought as she took her plate and moved away.

"Thanks" Vincent grunted

"No problems" Draco replied, focusing on his stir fried vegetables

None of the Slytherins noticed the bushy haired Gryffindor walking past their table at that moment and hearing the entire thing. Nor did they notice her eye widen in realisation and her abruptly changing direction, instead of going to the Gryffindor table she went out the door of the great hall and directly to the library.


	16. I am not very happy with this one

Disclaimer: Anything that you recognise does not belong to me; it belongs to the very talented J.K. Rowling. Lucky her! I am doing this purely to see if I can, I am not making any money off of this what so ever. Unlucky me!

Also, I have read a lot of stories on this site, so if anything is familiar, it is not on purpose… Could you simply take it as an homage?

AN: Sorry its so short, I have been wanting to post something for a while now, but I am up to my ears in assignments that I just didnt have the time to write all that I wanted!

* * *

Hermione sat back from the book she was reading in a daze, full of conflicted emotions, on one hand she was surprised, on the other she was confused but she was also full of wonderment, a real live veela was here in Hogwarts. And from the look of it, if she was interpreting all the signs right, Harry Potter was Draco Malfoy's soul mate! Pushing her thick hair back from her face, Hermione buried her face in her hands, what was she going to do?

* * *

The next day was Halloween, a school holiday. Deciding to take advantages of no classes, Harry and Draco met in the library to finish their assignment that was due in the next Potions session. During the past two weeks while working on this assignment Harry had come to see Draco as, well not really a friend, but definitely not an enemy, and in a strange way he was actually feeling quite sad that he didn't have any other reasons to hang out with the blonde haired boy. No matter what the public opinion of Draco Malfoy was, he was always real with Harry, if Harry was acting like a prat, Draco called him on it, if Harry was upset, Draco offered a sympathetic ear. Draco's thoughts were along the same lines as Harry's, he was feeling quite upset that he was no longer going to be able to spend a lot of time with his mate under the guise of an assignment. These past two weeks had been better than he had imagined they could be, he had been in close contact with his mate, Harry seemed to be accepting him – at least as a friend, and Draco felt that that was the best way to approach the relationship he eventually wanted to have with his mate.

"Right, I think if we just switch these two passages around the assignments should be done" Harry said to Draco

"Which passages?" Draco asked leaning towards Harry

"These two here," replied Harry, leaning closer to Draco to make his point, "See, if we move the herbs to be under the animal casings it will make the assignment flow better."

By now the two boys' heads were almost touching and the pull of attraction was too strong for the young veela. Reaching out Draco turned Harry's face towards his and pressed his lips against the other boys. Pleasure flashed through Draco before his mind took control again and he pulled back, his face draining of colour.

"Why did you do that?" Harry whispered, looking at Draco in confusion

"Oh God, I didn't mean to do that, I mean I meant to do that only not now. Oh shit, I'm sorry, I'll go now." Draco babbled as he hurriedly grabbed his stuff and left the library, leaving Harry to stare after him in bemusement.

* * *

"Shit, shit, shit!" Draco cursed under his breath as he stalked along the corridors on the way to the Slytherin common room. He had completely blown it! Why oh why had he let his stupid hormones cloud his thinking? What must Harry be thinking of him right now? This was not part of his plan! He was going to move slowly, he could handle not being intimate with his mate as long as Harry didn't despise him and spent time with him. And it seemed that Harry had really been beginning to accept him as a person, and not just seeing the Malfoy public persona. Growling at a third year as he passed, Draco stepped into the common room and went directly to his dorm room, throwing himself on his bed to spend the rest of the day berating himself for being such a hormone driven idiot.

* * *

While on his way to the library to do some homework of his own Ron was very surprised to see Malfoy storm past him looking the seven hounds of hell were on his heels. Looking in the library, Ron saw Harry sitting at the table looking as if he had been hit by a two by four.

"Malfoy" Ron growled

He knew that Malfoy had been hanging around his friend recently and now he thought he knew why.

"Stupid wanna be Death Eater, why can't he just leave him alone?" Ron muttered to himself.

Leaving the Library Ron made his way towards the dungeons with the intent of giving Malfoy a piece of his mind and warning him not to mess with Harry in the future. Not being able to see Malfoy on the path from the library to the dungeons Ron decided to tell the next best thing and trust that the message was passed along when he saw Goyle lumbering along the corridor. Stepping in front of Goyle, Ron decided to just speak and go, not really expecting a reply from the great gorilla

"I want to speak to you about your ferret friend. You guys better not be plotting anything. If I see any sign of this all being some scam so you can take Harry to your master Voldemort, I will tear you to pieces."

Before Ron could move after saying his speech Greg moved with a speed which was surprising for his size, wrapping his meaty fist around Ron's throat and slamming him against the wall, speaking with an eloquence that surprised the red head.

"Voldemort is nothing more than a murdering snake; I would rather die before serving him. We do not want to harm your hero, Voldemort is the small picture, and we are focusing on the big. Slander me or my friends again and _I_ will tear _you_ to pieces."

And with that Greg released Ron and walked away without a backwards glance, leaving the Gryffindor behind to gape at his retreating form in bewilderment.

What the hell was going on then? Malfoy was being nice to Harry, Goyle could actually string two words together without falling over and Goyle had threatened Ron all on his own! Without Malfoy's command directing his movements! Had the world gone mental? Had he somehow fallen into an alternate universe? He needed to go and speak to Hermione about all of this; she would know what was going on.

* * *

That night at the Halloween feast, it was a very quiet Trio that sat at the Gryffindor table, Hermione was still reeling from what she had found out last night, Harry was confused about what had happened in the library and Ron had yet to speak with his girlfriend about the events of the day and so was keeping his mouth closed until he could do so. Of course, it didn't help that the cause of this quietness was not present at the feast. 


	17. The Letter and the Library

Disclaimer: Anything that you recognise does not belong to me; it belongs to the very talented J.K. Rowling. Lucky her! I am doing this purely to see if I can, I am not making any money off of this what so ever. Unlucky me!

Also, I have read a lot of stories on this site, so if anything is familiar, it is not on purpose… Could you simply take it as an homage?

**A/N:** I am thinking that I need a beta reader, is anyone interested? If you are could you say so in a review, why you think you would be a good beta,and how I could contact you please?

* * *

Draco, Vince and Greg did not go to dinner because they had a few things to sort out… in private… without the other Slytherins around. The first issue regarded Greg's little outburst in the hall that day. With some serious silencing and anti eaves-dropping spells on the seventh years' dorm room, Draco let rip at his friend for his stupidity.

"I cannot believe you would do something like that! Has your adopted persona affected your brain? What was running through your mind when you decided to spout your beliefs in a public corridor? How do you think certain people in this house would have reacted if they heard you renounce him? You not only put your self in danger, but me and Vince as well."

Draco paced the room angrily as his larger friend stared impassively at him, Greg did not see anything wrong with what he had done. So he had scared Weasley a little, so what? A good talking too would do that twit some good, and anyway, Greg was always aware of his surroundings and had known no one was near, he knew no-one had heard his true feelings about the snake.

Draco's voice softened, "I know that you have gone through a terrible ordeal and it is hell bottling up all your emotions but the end of this is getting closer. Just hang in there and it will all be worth it soon."

As Draco finished talking a raven swooped into the common room window and dropped a letter at Draco's feet, picking it up he saw his father's writing on the envelope.

_Draco_

_Severus Snape tells me that you have made a Discovery concerning your gift, why didn't you tell me? When I gave you your present I was hoping you'd keep me informed, you must know by now that you, my only son, are one of the greatest interests in my life._

_All is quiet here; the Ministry holds little interest for me at the moment, so I am extending my interest into property. One can never have enough property son, remember that. A site in Surrey has caught my interest._

_I must cut this short; a house elf is waiting to speak to me._

_Your Father,_

_Lucius_

_P.S. Draco, please extend my sympathy to your friends, loss of a parent is always difficult, as you well know._

"Oh shit" Draco sighed, his father was pissed. And Voldemort had found the Dursleys.

"I need to speak to Dumbledore, has the feast finished?" He asked his friends, folding the letter and putting it in his pocket

"Yeah, about two minutes ago, maybe you should unblock the room to let everyone in?" Greg replied

"Right, I will see you later, work out why we weren't at the feast okay?" And with that Draco left the room, releasing all the spells he had put on it as he went.

* * *

Marching up the corridor towards the gargoyle guarding Dumbledore's office Draco was pleasantly surprised to see the headmaster himself moving towards his office from the opposite direction. Schooling his features into his Slytherin mask Draco approached the headmaster.

"Professor I need to discuss something with you, can we speak in your office?"

"Certainly Mister Malfoy, after you" Dumbledore returned, gesturing the young boy up the revolving staircase.

Once inside the round office, Draco waited for the Professor to close the door before he started talking. And once he started talking he didn't stop, all he said was in one continuous stream, Draco didn't even stop to see if Professor Dumbledore was listening.

"Professor I need to talk to you about Granger, I feel that she is abusing her position, she is using the restricted section for her assignments and has an unfair advantage over the rest of us. Oh you have a phoenix how nice,"

Draco went over to pat Fawkes, but sneezed when he got within a foot of the brightly coloured bird and pulling out a handkerchief from his pocket he continued speaking.

"Stupid bird, always was allergic. Well I must be off, thankyou for seeing me."

And with that Draco strode out of the office, seemingly not noticing the letter that had fallen out of his pocket when he had pulled out his handkerchief. Dumbledore would have been interested to see the satisfied smirk that was on his students face as Draco left the room, he had completed what he wanted to do, and hopefully without Dumbledore being any the wiser.

For one of the first times in his very long adult life Albus Dumbledore was a bit mystified by a student's behaviour. What the hell had just happened here? Looking at the empty doorway the blonde had just left through Albus shook his head and decided to pass Draco's bizarre behaviour off as a teenage mood swing. Turning to say goodnight to Fawkes before he retired for the night he noticed a piece of parchment on the floor, Mr Malfoy must have dropped it when he pulled out his tissue. Dumbledore picked it up, intending to give it to Fawkes to return to the Slytherin, when something caught his eye. Feeling a little guilty for reading a students' private document Albus' heart stopped as he read the words Lucius Malfoy had written to his son.

_All is quiet here; the Ministry holds little interest for me at the moment, so I am extending my interest into property. One can never have enough property son, remember that. A site in Surrey has caught my interest._

Walking to his fire he grabbed a handful of green powder and cast it into the flames

"Severus, I think we need to have a little chat."

* * *

The next day Harry and Hermione went to the library after class to do some homework and to catch up on each others news. Harry sat listening to Hermione speak, absentmindedly twirling the signet ring Sirius had given him on his finger with a small frown marring his forehead, he was so used to the stone being warm that is felt a little disconcerting when it was cold, as it was now. After hearing about how wonderful Ron was, how brave, how handsome, how caring, Harry decided to tell Hermione his news, if only to shut the girl up.

"Hermione, Draco kissed me yesterday"

"Oh my goodness, Harry! When? How? Why?"

"I don't know why, we were sitting in the library finishing off Snape's assignment then suddenly he just kissed me. And then he pushed me back and was all pale and flustered and stuff and ran out of there."

"Wow, so did you like it?"

"Well I am mainly confused. Why would he do this? He's never shown any interest in me before. I mean we hated each other for six years! Now I think we are moving towards friendship and he goes and kisses me? What if this is all a prank?"

Hermione, who had heard Ron's story about Goyle, knew for sure that this was not a prank and moved to reassure her friend.

"Harry I reckon you should talk to Malfoy, maybe he has simply realised what a great guy you are… And if it's a prank then you can hex the little ferret!"

"You're right Mi" Harry smiled at his best friend, "Now, if I swished my wand like this would it change the stone into a sofa or do I need to be more forceful?"

And with that the focus shifted and the two friends spent a happy few hours in the library studying.

Harry had decided to stay a little later in the library than Hermione, as he needed to finish up some Divination homework, so he was sitting alone when someone else came and sat next to him.

"Okay, let me say this without interruption, or I will never get it out. Yesterday in the library, it wasn't a joke. Over the last two weeks when we were working on the Potions assignment I like to think that we have been becoming friends and I just couldn't help myself wanting to take it further than friendship. Please don't freak out about this. I completely understand if you don't feel the same way, I was simply acting on my emotions. Please don't go back to the way we were before, I value your friendship, and whatever happens it would be very sad if we couldn't talk anymore like we have over the last two weeks."

Draco sat watching Harry carefully, he had been very careful not revealing his veela heritage, not wanting Harry to think his actions were due to an outside influence. For though he had acted as if he hated Harry Potter in the past, Draco actually had admired him and he was truly happy that they were becoming friends, and he reckoned that even without his veela side insisting Harry was his mate, he would have wanted to get closer to this boy. His veela blood had simply opened his eyes to the possibilities that were closed before. Harry sighed

"Look Draco, I don't know what to think, for the past six year we have been enemies, now we are friends and suddenly you want to get closer? Just give me time, I have a lot on my plate at the moment and regardless of the circumstances I am not sure anything could happen until certain things are resolved."

"I understand that Harry, just don't shut me out ok?"

And with that, Draco got up and walked away, saying as he left that he needed to write to his father. Harry sat staring after him once again twirling his ring around his finger, noticing with surprise that the stone was warm again.


	18. Conversations with Hermione

Disclaimer: Anything that you recognise does not belong to me; it belongs to the very talented J.K. Rowling. Lucky her! I am doing this purely to see if I can, I am not making any money off of this what so ever. Unlucky me!

Also, I have read a lot of stories on this site, so if anything is familiar, it is not on purpose… Could you simply take it as an homage?

**A/N:** I would just like to dedicate this chapter to my wonderfully amazing Beta, **dreamerdoll**... And to Yana5, for always being the first to review, I dont know how you do it!

* * *

The next morning, a Sunday, Hermione decided to take advantage of everyone else still being abed and went to get a good table in the common room for she, Harry, and Ron to do their homework. Sneaking down the stairs, she was surprised to see that her favourite table was already occupied by a dark haired youth.

"Hey Harry, you're up early," she noted, voice low.

"I couldn't sleep; too much on my mind," was the reply that she got from the quiet boy.

Harry heaved a huge sigh and ran his hands through his hair, making it more ruffled than it already was. Hermione wisely remained silent, she knew that Harry would talk about what was obviously bothering him in his own time, and not a minute earlier. No amount of questioning would make him tell her before he was ready. After about fifteen minutes of quiet studying, Harry decided to break the silence.

"So last night, after you left, Draco came and talked to me."

"Really?" She looked rather surprised. "What did he have to say?"

Harry pondered for a moment. "He told me that it wasn't a prank, that he was acting on his feelings. And he said that even if I didn't like him that way he hoped that we could still be friends."

"Did he mention anything else? Any gifts he has?" Hermione asked

She desperately wanted to know whether Malfoy had told his mate that he was a veela. She couldn't work out why Malfoy wouldn't tell him; it would make everything so much simpler for him and Harry. Malfoy had been given a wonderful gift in being able to find his soul mate, and he needed to tell Harry the truth.

"Why would he talk about presents Hermione?" Harry was rather confused by his best friend's question. Did Hermione think Draco was planning on giving him a present?

Obviously Malfoy hadn't told Harry about being a veela. Hermione resolved to talk to Malfoy at the earliest possible convenience. What was he playing at? She was certain that she was correct in her theories, so why wouldn't he want Harry to know that they were soul mates and that if they got together they would be the happiest they could be?

"So what do you think of Malfoy, Harry?"

Harry looked confused. "I honestly don't know, Mi. I mean, Draco has become a friend; I enjoy talking to him, and working with him was surprisingly easy, as he really knows a lot. And one night he found me really upset and he just sat beside me, not judging me, 'til I felt better, and he didn't use it against me. Can you believe that? Draco Malfoy, the self-made prince of Slytherin didn't use a moment of weakness against the 'Boy Who Lived'. I think that was the time when I started to believe that we could be friends, that he might be someone worth spending time with."

"How do you feel about Malfoy romantically?" Hermione had noticed that Harry now referred to Malfoy as Draco, but try as she might she just couldn't force that name past her lips. This was, after all, the boy who called her Mudblood at every opportunity and, unlike Harry; she just couldn't let that go yet.

"Did I tell you about the time that Draco fell on top of me?" Harry asked, and, at the shake of the head of the person sitting opposite across from him, he continued, "A few weeks ago, I was coming out of the DADA room, and he just tripped and fell on top of me, which is rather surprising, really, as he is usually so graceful. I didn't really think of it at the time, though. I was so happy, with him lying there over me, and all I wanted to do was get closer to him, as close as I could. Then I remembered where I was, and how it must have looked, so pushed him off. I still wish I hadn't. It was such a nice feeling, being close to someone, when I have spent so long distancing myself from other people, not letting anyone near, for fear of Voldemort."

"He's also gotten really good looking," Hermione noted, and smiled inwardly as she awaited her friend's reply.

"He looks very different from his father now doesn't he?"

"Merlin, Harry, have you not noticed that he is absolutely gorgeous?" Hermione asked

Shock filled her voice. Malfoy may have been a complete arsehole, but he had the face of an angel, and was at the same time sinfully sexy. He looked as if he had been put on earth for the soul purpose of bringing pleasure to some other, amazingly lucky, person. Some other amazingly lucky person who was Harry, she noted with a shake of the head. And Harry was, in many ways, just as beautiful as his mate.

"I don't really care what he looks like, Hermione. But what do I do now?"

"Well why don't you simply spend time with him as a friend and decide how you feel when you really know the guy?" Hermione felt a bit out of her depth; she had, since fifth year, had a crush on Ron, and now they were together. She had never been with anyone else in a romantic relationship, so she really had no clue what to do when someone came up to you and professed their love for you.

"Thanks Mi, I might just do that." And with that the conversation died down and the two studied in a comfortable silence until the common room started to fill up. At ten Ron appeared, looking more than half asleep, and it was decided that they go down to breakfast before suggesting to Ron that they did some studying.

* * *

After breakfast Hermione spied a certain blonde and left her two friends with instructions to go up to the common room and study until she returned. When they were safely on their way, she followed Malfoy, calling out to him. Draco turned around in surprise when he heard the Head Girl call his name before quickly schooling his face into his usual mask and sneering.

"What do you want Mudblood; I don't have all day," he stated, tone bored.

She glared at him before replying with a smirk, "Save it Malfoy, I know what you are."

With that Malfoy mask fell away and for a split second Hermione saw a look of complete surprise on the Slytherin's face, but before she could blink the cool, collected expression had returned.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Draco informed her while moving away fro Hermione.

Hermione followed. "I just want to know why you haven't told Harry. I mean he is your mate, isn't he?"

"Would you shut up!" Malfoy hissed before hauling the girl into an empty classroom. Putting up his usual silencing and privacy wards he turned to Hermione, his eyes spitting fire.

"What the hell are you playing at, Granger?" He asked, advancing on the girl. She backed away in shock, having never seen Malfoy in such a temper before. Over the years, she had seen him in plenty moods, but this one was truly scary. In the back of her mind she wondered idly if it was all an act, his attitude and she was seeing the real Malfoy now.

"I am one of Harry's best friends; he tells me a lot of what is going on in his life. I am also the third top student in Defence Against the Dark Arts, behind only you and Harry. I can put one and one together and come up with two, Malfoy. I think the only reason Harry hasn't is because he really doesn't want to see farther into it than what lies on the surface."

She shrugged. She knew her best friend often didn't notice things, and a lot of times, it was because he chose not to. Hermione wasn't sure if that was what it was in this case or not.

Draco was looking at Hermione in dread. She had worked it out? How? He had been so careful in hiding it, and Granger had figured it all out! Damn her!

"What are you talking about Granger; I don't have time for your guessing," he said in reply, the fear he felt barely masked.

Hermione gave up trying to get Malfoy to admit what was happening. She had known already, and his behaviour only served to make her all the more confident in her assumptions. "You're a veela Malfoy, and Harry is your mate. That is why you have been hanging around him all the time, that's why you have done a complete one eighty change in your attitude towards him. That is why you didn't complain about Professor Snape's assigned pairs, and that is why you were so upset when you hurt Harry that night in the library."

Hermione paused to see her companion's reaction to her words. When she saw his shoulders slump in defeat, she continued.

"Am I right in assuming that you are a part veela and you came into your inheritance during the summer holidays, on your birthday?" At Draco's small nod she continued, "And you scented you mate on the train, that's why you didn't insult us more that day." She paused for a moment, but her curiosity got the better of her. "Did you know who it was right away, or did you just know they were in our cabin?" Hermione asked curiously.

"I knew that whoever my mate was sat in your cabin. At first, I had actually hoped it was you, can you believe it? I find it rather astounding myself, really. I thought that you would get less of a reaction from my father. It wasn't until the first potions class that I realized that my mate was Harry." Draco decided to go all the way and confess every thing, since he had already begun. "No offence or anything, but I am really glad its not you, Harry has given me so much joy, just by allowing me to be near him, that I cant imagine wanting to spend time with anyone else."

"Why haven't you told Harry about your situation?" Hermione asked, a frown of confusion marring her forehead.

"I don't want him to think that I am doing this all out of hormones or something. Imagine how it would be, someone coming up to you and saying that because of a smell you are destined to be together forever and live happily ever after? Most people would react with instant denial, I am pretty sure Harry would be like that. And I genuinely like Harry, I was telling the truth when I would be happy just to be his friend. I mean, the veela in me is yearning for more but I would be happy if I could just see him without being told to go away. I think I could survive with that."

"Don't worry Malfoy, I don't think it will come to that somehow," Hermione said dryly. And then realizing she had maybe said too much, she hurriedly added, "I need to go make sure my boys are studying, would you be so kind as to release me?"

Malfoy let down the wards and sat at one of the desks in the empty classroom pondering what Hermione had just told him. Suddenly his eyes narrowed. What had she meant by _her _boys?


	19. A Rambling Old Man

**Disclaimer:** Anything that you recognise does not belong to me; it belongs to the very talented J.K. Rowling. Lucky her! I am doing this purely to see if I can, I am not making any money off of this what so ever. Unlucky me!

Also, I have read a lot of stories on this site, so if anything is familiar, it is not on purpose… Could you simply take it as an homage?

**A/N:** Thankyou to my wonderful beta, Dreamerdoll

Also, there is another movie quote in here. If no-one finds it I will be severely disappointed, it is in a very popular movie and the referenced in its sequel!

* * *

A few weeks later found the seventh years in their Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, listening to Remus lecture on the hierarchy of the vampires. Harry had fallen into the habit of sitting next to Draco in both Defense and Potions, taking Hermione's advice and getting to know the blonde better. And it was working; Harry found that he was getting to know the other boy in ways he had never imagined, he had learned to interpret the mask that Draco always wore. He could now read the Slytherin's mood at twenty paces, and knew what to say to make the teen laugh, or at least crack a grin when he was brooding, which seemed to happen a lot.

Harry also found that he was thinking of the blonde Slytherin more than he used to, and not in the way that he used to. He found himself noticing that Draco was very loyal to his friends and his house, that he hated spinach and loved strawberry cheesecake. He found himself noticing that Hermione had been right, Draco was extraordinarily handsome, if a little vain about his hair (and everything else about himself). Draco was also very good at insulting everyone, including people in his own house, making Harry decide that must be how he always seemed to rule the roost of the Slytherin dungeons, and why no one wanted to upset the man with the acid tongue.

He had also learned that he enjoyed verbally sparring with Draco. He wasn't afraid to upset Harry, like everyone else was, and they always came out of their spats smiling, mostly thanks to Draco's wicked sense of humour. Luckily, he no longer took Draco seriously anymore, or they most likely they both would have been expelled for dueling in the corridors.

Surprisingly, Harry also discovered himself thinking about doing things with the Slytherin that were not exactly of the innocent nature. He found himself thinking of the blonde at most moments of the day, usually when he was supposed to be concentrating on something else, such as his Transfiguration homework. Was it possible that he liked Draco? It was probable, and there was only one thing he could do about it.

* * *

Draco felt as if he was slowly going insane. For the past few weeks, Harry had been treating him as a friend, and nothing more. They sat together in classes, helping each other with homework and arguing over stupid things simply for the challenge of winning the pointless battle. So far, they were fairly even in the points scored during these arguments. Draco found that being friends with Harry Potter was a wonderful place to be in the world. The dark haired youth was not afraid to stick up for his friends when he felt it was needed, he was not above rolling up his sleeves and spending all night working on solving a problem that was plaguing someone. He would do anything for his friends. 

None of this was bad, he was certain. What was driving him slowly crazy about this whole thing was that he had received no feedback over what he had requested Harry to ponder over some weeks ago. The boy had simply continued on as he had before, being polite to everyone and treating Draco the same. Was he at least thinking about whether he wanted something more from their friendship? Did he hold romantic feelings for someone else? After careful observation he had decided that Harry at least felt no romantic inclinations towards Hermione, but he wasn't sure about the frizz-head, the miniature Weasel. He had discovered that his feelings towards Hermione had cooled somewhat after hearing her claim Harry as her own, and decided that she needed careful watching. Speaking of careful watching, he noticed that Professor Lupin was getting them to practice rogue vampire deflection on each other.

"Professor Lupin, I have a headache, I can't do this right now," Draco called out.

Deflecting a rogue vampire could be extremely painful for the vampire, and since last week, when he tried to hit Harry over the backside of his head to illustrate what a prat he was being and found that his hand would just not cooperate with what his mind was ordering, he discovered he could not actually inflict any physical pain of any kind on his mate, so if they were being paired by their seating arrangements he would not be able to participate, as he could not hurt Harry.

"Okay, now I want you to all find someone who is the same height as you and that is your partner. This is so you can practice without worrying the size variables at the moment, as we progress through the week you will be paired with people of different heights. Mr. Malfoy are you sure that you cannot participate?" Remus organised the class and then turned to Draco with an enquiring look.

"No sir, I think I can. The headaches all gone," Draco replied, giving the professor a small smile.

The only person his height was Ron Weasley, so this was going to be quite enjoyable.

* * *

The class practiced their deflecting skills for the rest of the period. When the class ended and the students began to disappear through the door, Remus called Draco over. 

"Mr. Malfoy, I was wondering if I could have a word?"

"Certainly sir, I don't have a class after this," Draco replied, quite curious as to what this was about.

"I was simply wondering if you had found an answer to your predicament. The one we talked about at the beginning of term?"

Oh shit, he was asking about Harry. Draco winced, "Yes sir, it's all sorted out."

"That's good Mr. Malfoy; I have noticed that you and Harry Potter have been not arguing as much lately. Any particular reason?"

"Not really sir, we both simply decided to save our energy for something more worth while."

"Did you know that I was there when Harry was born?" Remus suddenly asked a smile on his face.

At Draco's blank look he continued

"Yes, his Godfather and I were the ones pacing the waiting room while Lily, his mother, was giving birth, and James, his father, was offering moral support. Although I am not sure how good James was at giving support, he was an extraordinarily brave man, but when his wife was in pain he fell to pieces. One time Lily cut her hand on a broken glass, and he forgot all about the healing charms that he himself could have done and rushed her to St Mungo's emergency room. But I digress. Sirius and I paced the waiting room for six hours, waiting to meet the new Potter that was coming into the world. It's a very surreal experience, waiting for a baby to be born; there are silencing charms on the rooms, so you can not even judge how things are progressing by the noise. But finally after waiting and pacing and worrying for hours, James came out holding a little bundle wrapped in a blue blanket and introduced Harry to his new Godfather and Uncle Remus. I will never forget the feeling of holding a tiny baby in my arms. Harry was only three kilos when he was born, so small. I remember holding him and marveling at his tiny little fingers. It was then that I swore I would protect him to the best of my ability from anything that could harm him. Unfortunately, for the first eleven years of his life and one time when he was thirteen I was unable to do so. But now I have the ability to do so, I am not going to let him down. If anyone ever hurts him, I will tear them limb from limb. As you remember I am a werewolf, and I have discovered that, if I am so inclined, I can tap into the strength of the wolf quite easily."

Suddenly Remus gave a humor filled smile.

"Listen to me! Rambling on like an old man. I am glad you have sorted everything out, and I trust that you are behaving responsibly? Good, good, thank you for your time Mr. Malfoy, enjoy the rest of your free session."

And with that Remus herded the surprised teenager out into the corridor and shut the door in his face. Draco was seriously confused. What the hell had just happened there? Did Professor Lupin know Harry was his mate? It certainly seemed like it, but then he was very seriously warned against hurting him. The Professor should know that veelas could not hurt their mates! Draco wandered along the hallway, not really paying attention to his surroundings as he pondered what he had just heard, when suddenly he was pulled into another empty classroom. Raising surprised eyes he saw Harry standing in front of him, looking slightly nervous.

"Okay, so I have been thinking a lot these past weeks, ever since you told me that you liked me and I have come to a conclusion. I like you, I mean your friends are… interesting. You're haughty, and you always say the wrong thing in every situation and I seriously believe that you should rethink the length of your sideburns. But, you're a nice guy and I like you. If you wanted to get together sometime it would be nice...well, more than nice actually."

And with that, Harry stood on tiptoe and kissed him gently on the mouth. Draco was still reeling from what Harry had just told him but when the boy's lips touched his own, his senses leapt to life and he moved quickly, drawing him closer and deepening the kiss. Harry instantly complied with Draco's unspoken plea, responding to the kiss, their tongues battling for dominance as they both strived to convey all that they felt in a single kiss. Draco smiled into the kiss, for finally, for the first time in his life, did he feel… complete.


	20. The Calm Before the Storm

Disclaimer: Anything that you recognise does not belong to me; it belongs to the very talented J.K. Rowling. Lucky her! I am doing this purely to see if I can, I am not making any money off of this what so ever. Unlucky me!

Also, I have read a lot of stories on this site, so if anything is familiar, it is not on purpose… Could you simply take it as an homage?

**A/N:** Okay, so the quote was: ". I like you, I mean your friends are… interesting. You're haughty, and you always say the wrong thing in every situation and I seriously believe that you should rethink the length of your sideburns. But, you're a nice man and I like you. If you wanted to see me some time that might be nice... more than nice" from Bridget Jones' Diary, directed by Sharon MacGuire andwritten by Helen Fielding. Huge Prps to **Eriks luv** who got the quote but not the movie and **acsbabyangelgirl** who got the quote and the movie.

Also **JC2021**, you absolutely cracked me up with your review, thankyou! And **Crystal Raven**, you made me smile when I didnt think I could, so thankyou very much. And while we are on the subject of thankyous, thankyouto my wonderful beta **Dreamerdoll**... the best Beta I know!

* * *

Over the next few days Draco and Harry continued to act as they had before Harry's confession, at least in public. When they were 'studying' in a secluded corner of the library, it was an entirely different story. While under the pretence of going into dusty corners to look up archaic laws or traditions for History of Magic, they spent many pleasurable minutes exploring each other's mouths, faces and shoulders. It was as if an unspoken agreement had been reached, and until they felt comfortable sharing their new relationship with the world they were not going to go too far. This did stop them, however, from making out as often as possible. Draco was getting very good at ensuring his veela attraction worked in his favor and, instead of bringing peoples' attention to him, instead misdirected their curiosity, as if a repellent.

* * *

Two weeks after Harry had made his move, there was a Hogsmeade weekend. The entire school, or at least those over third year, left for the town, wanting to purchase early Christmas presents this year and save in the normal sales, leaving Harry and Draco to stay back at school, enjoying the other's company as they ventured through the castle and the grounds. The two supposed that even if, on the off chance, someone caught them, the second and first years would not mention it to anyone, as they were often oblivious to what was happening in the higher years, and even if they weren't, who would believe that Draco Malfoy and the Boy Who Lived were strolling around the place, comfortably holding hands, talking, and occasionally trading a kiss?

As the day progressed, the two decided to go for a walk around the lake, so they set out, chatting amiably.

"So who do you think is going to win the first Quidditch game of the season? Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff?" Draco asked, starting out on a safe topic.

"I reckon that Hufflepuff could just make it. I mean they have been training really hard this year, and they have finally found a good replacement for Cedric."

Seeing that the ebony haired boy was looking quite downcast at the thought of his deceased classmate, Draco desperately cast around for a way to change the topic and in the process bring Harry's mind back to more pleasant things.

"I don't know, now that Chang is gone Ravenclaw might have a chance, she was really dragging the team down," the blond replied, rather frantically, saying the first thing that came to mind. Which was unfortunately an insult.

"Hey! Cho was a good seeker; she gave me a run for my money when we played them." Harry retorted

"Well Potter," replied Draco with a smirk. "That's not overly difficult to do."

"Watch it Malfoy," Harry came back as a smile began to show on his face. "I have always managed to best you."

"Low blow Harry. You will get your comeuppance!" Draco replied, pulling out his wand and conjuring up a water balloon.

Harry backed away, his eyes dancing with merriment, and ducked when Draco tossed the balloon at him. Unfortunately, he was not quick enough in avoiding the water balloon, and instead it hit him right in the face. For a moment, he stood still, gasping as chilly water gushed down his body. Draco, on his part, fell to the ground in fits of laughter as he watched his boyfriend struggle with the fact that he hadn't been quick enough to avoid Draco Malfoy, who he had just claimed always to beat.

"Oh you will pay," Harry vowed, an evil grin lighting his face.

Draco instantly stopped his gales of laughter upon seeing the glint in Harry's eyes, a telltale sign that he had gone too far. The two boys battled it out, throwing so many water balloons at each other that they soon lost count of the number of times they hit and missed. After a while though it became clear that Draco was going to win, his aim was just too good. Harry was admittedly exceptional at ducking and avoiding the missiles, but unfortunately for him, his aim was not so fantastic. The fact of the matter was, he sucked at throwing the things. Deciding that retreat was the best option, Harry cut his losses and ran, with the blonde fast on his tail. With an enormous leap Draco tackled the Gryffindor, pinning him to the ground.

"You're mine Potter!" Draco cried, conjuring up an enormous water balloon.

Suddenly Harry seized the weapon from him, moving with a speed that a seeker with years of practice could only achieve, and using his muscles also earned from years of Quidditch, flipped the two boys so that Harry was now straddling a rather surprised Draco, a knee on each side of his hips. Raising the stolen water balloon above his head Harry, prepared for his victory

"I don't think so Draco. You are mine!"

And looking down into his victims face to see the reaction the Slytherin had when he got a face full of water Harry was surprised to see a myriad of emotions displayed on Draco's face, causing him to pause in releasing the balloon

"Am I really Harry? Am I really yours?" Draco asked, almost wistfully.

All thoughts of dousing Draco with water left Harry's mind as he melted into a puddle of goo at the vulnerability in is boyfriend's voice. Really, he would have liked to take Draco away, to somewhere only the two of them knew about, and spend the rest of the day together. He prayed that Draco would always be in his life, with no interference from the outside world, able to give him moments of absolute bliss, like the one at hand, with just the two of them, as it was always meant to be.

"Of course Draco, I will always care about you, always. Even if this doesn't work out, I will always have a special place for you in my heart," Harry replied after several long moments, his soft voice filled with tenderness.

Draco's heart leapt at this. Harry cared for him! Of course, it helped that Draco, as a veela, knew that they were soul mates and their relationship would last, but that was really beside the point! Harry had admitted he cared for Draco, and it wasn't because Draco was a veela, Harry liked him just as he was. A dazzling smile broke out over his face and he leaned up and kissed his boyfriend on the lips. When Harry groaned and started responding to the kiss, Draco began to move. Very slowly he removed the water balloon from Harry's hand, and when it seemed that Harry was intent on kissing Draco into the next century, released the balloon over his head.

"AAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Harry shrieked, sounding quite like a girl, much to the blonde's amusement.

Laughing, Draco pushed the dark haired boy off him and made a run for it, knowing that unless there was a lot of distance between him and the dripping teen he was going to pay for his prank in a very harsh way. The rest of the day was spent racing around the castle avoiding the fuming, wet, Gryffindor until unfortunately the rest of the school returned from Hogsmeade.

* * *

**Meanwhile**

Severus Snape found himself in a foul temper. One would think that as a teacher, he would be exempt from weekend tasks for the Order as he spent the entire week looking after sniveling brats but no, that was, unfortunately not the case.

Here he was, sitting under an invisibility cloak watching the House of the bane of his existence's fat relatives to ensure that the Dark Lord did not wipe out their miserable existences in a fit of pique. Ever since Lucius' letter to Draco had been 'found' there had been a member of the order watching the Dursleys at all times and today was his day for guard duty. He would much rather chaperone his students in Hogsmeade, a job that usually made even the nicest of teachers turn pale in fear. Suddenly a noise reached his ears that made him stiffen. If he wasn't mistaken, it was the sound of someone apparating into the street. Severus's fears were confirmed when he saw a masked figure in a dark cloak sweep down Privet Drive followed by three more cloaked figures. Flipping open his watch Severus pressed a hidden button, sending an alarm to the Order and summoned several members before apparating away from the street. It wouldn't do to have a death eater (even if he was a spy) fight other death eaters to protect people who were clearly on the Dark Lord's kill list.

* * *

Albus Dumbledore was sitting in his office, munching on a lemon drop and going over the next school years lesson prospectus, when the alarm rang. Quickly glancing at his clock, he noted that Severus was just returning to Hogwarts from his watch at Privet Drive while Tonks, Moody, Shacklebolt, Gibbs and Princeton, all Aurors as well as members of the Order of the Phoenix, were on their way to join the ensuing battle. The old man sighed; it seemed as if Tom would not rest until he had wiped out every person that his adversary seemed to care about, every member of his family. He could only hope that Harry would once more be strong enough to survive this blow. If the Dursley's were killed, the poor boy would no longer to have any relations left in the world, leaving him with no family to turn to in the coming times. 


	21. A Report From a Reliable Source

**Disclaimer:** Anything that you recognise does not belong to me; it belongs to the very talented J.K. Rowling. Lucky her! I am doing this purely to see if I can, I am not making any money off of this what so ever. Unlucky me!

Also, I have read a lot of stories on this site, so if anything is familiar, it is not on purpose… Could you simply take it as an homage?

**A/N:** Thankyou to my wonderful Beta Dreamerdoll...

* * *

That night at dinner Harry sat with his two best friends listening to them as they recounted their day.

"Oh Harry, you should have seen it, it was so romantic! Ron gave me a red rose and then we…"

Harry smiled into his mashed potato as Hermione raved about how wonderful her boyfriend was. It seemed that Ron had pulled out all the stops to make this day special to Hermione, for which Harry was glad. They had obviously had a good time, and his friends deserved all the happiness in the world. Laughing as Ron tried to sink under the table in embarrassment from his girlfriend's effusiveness, Harry was surprised to feel a hand touch his shoulder. Turning he came face to face with a garishly patterned robe, looking up he saw the somber face of Albus Dumbledore.

"Harry could you please come with me? There is something I think you should hear."

Nodding wordlessly, Harry smiled at his friends and got up to follow the Head Master, leaving Ron and Hermione to stare after his retreating back in concern.

Entering the Headmasters office Harry was surprised to see Tonks standing by the desk looking at Fawkes.

"Tonks!" Harry exclaimed, a smile appearing on his face

"Why don't you take a seat, Harry?" Dumbledore broke in before Tonks could speak to Harry.

Frowning in confusion, Harry took a seat in one of the chairs facing the desk, angling it so he could look at Tonks too

"Auror Tonks is here in a professional capacity Harry; she has something to report that I feel you should hear from a reliable source and not the Daily Profit." Dumbledore said, nodding to Tonks to begin speaking.

"Sir, at approximately 3.15 pm, November third, myself and Aurors Moody, Shacklebolt, Gibbs and Princeton were alerted of Death Eater activity in the residence of Mr. and Mrs. Vernon Dursley. We apparated to the site and entered Number four Privet Drive through the side entrance. Upon entering we were immediately fired upon with a variety of hexes and curses from the four Death Eaters in the house. Returning fire, Aurors Moody and Gibbs covered myself and Aurors Princeton and Shacklebolt as we moved to the three Dursley's, Vernon, Petunia, and Dudley. Unfortunately we were too late to do anything for the family; they were all murdered by the Avada Kedavra curse before we entered the premises. Aurors Moody and Gibbs managed to subdue three of the four Death Eaters and they have been apprehended to custody at the ministry. Under questioning the three Death Eaters admitted to killing the Dursleys with intent to mutilate them afterwards. It seems that You-Know-Who planned to send Harry Potter a package containing his Aunt's head." Finishing her rather impersonal report Tonks nodded to Professor Dumbledore and glanced at Harry with a sympathetic look on her face before turning and flooing out of the office.

Dumbledore turned to Harry with concern etched on his lined face, "My dear boy, would you like a lemon drop?"

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Harry looked up at the Headmaster, shock plainly painted all over his features "Uh, no, err, no thank you, Sir. May I be excused? Please?"

"Are you going to be alright?

Harry?" Dumbledore asked, leaning forward in his chair.

Harry stood up, "I, uh, I need to see Ron and Hermione."

With that he turned and walked out of the office, not stopping until he reached the Fat lady's portrait. Racking his brain for the password that he just couldn't seem to remember, all he could think of was that the last of his family was dead. He stood there; looking blankly at the portrait for Merlin knew how long, Harry didn't move, his mind was whirling with memories of the Dursleys. Eventually, the Fat Lady grew concerned that one of her Gryffindors seemed to be upset and went to retrieve the Head Girl.

* * *

"Harry?" Hermione walked up to her friend, treading softly as if afraid of scaring him. Gently touching the boy's arm she tried again, "Harry, are you okay?"

Harry turned blindly towards her voice and Hermione gasped at the sheer pain in the emerald green eyes.

"Come on Harry, let's go sit down. Okay?"

Taking Harry by the arm Hermione spoke the password, leading the boy through the Gryffindor common room and into her bedroom. Ron who was in the common room at the time followed the two friends when he saw Hermione's worried expression.

"Mate, are you alright?" Ron asked, looking at his girlfriend in confusion. What had happened to their dark haired friend to make him go almost catatonic? What had he heard from Dumbledore?

Sitting in silence, Ron and Hermione watched Harry in alarm. Finally he spoke.

"They're dead," Harry whispered voice full of pain.

"Who's dead mate?" Ron asked cautiously, as if afraid to know the answer.

"The Dursleys. He had them killed."

Ron and Hermione winced. They knew who 'he' was and they knew what was going through their friends mind at this time. He would be blaming himself, and they hastened to tell him otherwise.

"Harry, this was the work of a madman, it wasn't your fault," Hermione informed him, voice soft.

"Yeah, you had nothing to do with this. Vol-Voldemort is just trying to mess with your head," Ron said to him, struggling over the name.

"You couldn't have done anything to change this outcome," the girl tried.

Suddenly Harry seemed to snap into focus "Yeah, you're right. I, um, I need to go for a walk or something, okay?"

"Okay Harry, do you want us to come with you?" Hermione asked, worry still evident on her face.

"No, no I just need to get some air. I'll be back soon."

Harry walked out of Hermione's room and headed towards the entrance hall with the intent of going for a walk outside. But he didn't reach his destination, as halfway to the entrance hall a strong hand grabbed Harry's arm and pulled him into an empty room.

"Hey, what's the matter?" Draco crooned at his mate. Since dinner that night the young Veela's link with his mate had been playing up, he knew that Harry was going through a severe emotional upheaval. "Come on, its okay, you can tell me," Draco whispered reassuringly, drawing the shocked Gryffindor into his arms.

Though Draco was only a few centimeters taller than him, Harry managed to burrow his way into his boyfriend's arms and Draco rested his chin on Harry's head. When Harry started to shake with tears, Draco tightened his hold and whispered reassuring words into his ear until the teen calmed down, all cried out.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Draco asked quietly?

"Dumbledore took me into his office tonight; he said I should hear something. It was an Auror telling me that my Aunt, Uncle and cousin had been murdered by Death Eaters."

"Oh no, Harry. I am sorry," Draco whispered, his heart breaking for his boyfriend. "They are in a better place now."

"Yeah, I know," Harry said.

"Were you close with them?"

"Not really. They hated me. Did you know that?" Draco shook his head in denial. "Yeah, every summer I was treated like a slave or ignored me, and I hated it. I used to beg Dumbledore to let me stay at Hogwarts or at Ron's house, his family wouldn't have minded. But every year I was forced to go back there."

Harry gave a broken grin.

"Do you know what I used to do at the sweet shop when I was bored? Don't get me wrong, I loved working for Mark, but he gave me some of the dullest jobs in the world. One time, he got a carton of mixed jellybeans and he wanted them separated by color. So I had to stand there for an entire day putting the different colored jellybeans in separate jars, one for pink, one for red, one for green etcetera. Anyway, my mind wandered and I got to thinking about what I would be doing after Hogwarts. I thought about how I would go to the Aurors program. And then I thought about the Dursleys, about what I would say to them about how I would get my revenge for all the summers they treated me like dirt. I thought about how I could hex Uncle Vernon with permanent bad breath, or hex Aunt Petunia so that every time she gossiped about one of the neighbors she would get a pimple. I used to laugh at how her face would be covered in an hour. And now I can't do that. I can't get my petty revenge or my 'closure' as the muggles like to say. But the really sad thing is that they hated me because I was magical, they thought it would hurt them, and in the end they were right." And with that Harry broke down again.

"Shh, shh, shh," Draco whispered reassuringly as he rubbed his boyfriend's back, his mind reeling with what he had just heard.

Draco had always known that Harry couldn't have had the best home life; he had always come back to school looking a little skinnier and more tired than he had at the end of the last school year, but he didn't know that his relatives had hated him! He just thought that Harry's relatives were slightly less well off than his own. He could feel his anger rising inside of him on behalf of his mate. How dare he be treated like that? Draco resolved to never let Harry want for anything, after everything he had been through, Harry deserved all that Draco could give.

"Oh God Draco, I am all alone." Harry whimpered "I don't even have relatives that hate me anymore."

"Harry, you're not alone. You have friends who love you; Weasley and Granger would do anything for you, and you know that. And you have me. You know I will always be there for you, don't you? That I am yours forever?" Draco put a finger under Harry's chin, tilting his face up to look into water clogged green eyes.

"Really Draco? You won't leave me?" Hope shone through Harry's eyes, lancing its way straight to Draco's heart.

"Don't worry you silly boy, I'm yours, you couldn't get rid of me if you tried."


	22. The Quidditch Match

Disclaimer: Anything that you recognise does not belong to me; it belongs to the very talented J.K. Rowling. Lucky her! I am doing this purely to see if I can, I am not making any money off of this what so ever. Unlucky me!

Also, I have read a lot of stories on this site, so if anything is familiar, it is not on purpose… Could you simply take it as an homage?

THANKYOU TO MY WONDERFUL BETA DREAMERDOLL, AND TO ALL THE FANTASTIC PEOPLE WHO REVIEWED! I REALLY DID NOT EXPECT THIS TO GO SO WELL!

* * *

A week later saw Draco preparing for his first Quidditch game of the year. Sitting at the table with Crabbe and Goyle as he tried to force down a decent breakfast, Draco couldn't stop his eyes from straying over to Harry. While the dark haired boy seemed to have bounced back over the past week since finding out about his guardians' murders, Draco still worried. Every now and again he could see flashes of sadness in those deep green eyes. Suddenly Draco felt a dig in his side, looking up in annoyance his gaze clashed with Greg's; through their devised code, Greg conveyed, YOUR STARING.

"Damn it," Draco cursed under his breath.

The pull towards Harry had been getting stronger and stronger as the term progressed. The closer he got to Harry the more he wanted to be with him, to bond his life with that of his mates irrevocably. Just as Draco's mood was getting horribly maudlin the post owls arrived, dropping a letter in front of him. Looking down in surprise Draco once more uttered a curse. It was from his father and Draco hadn't yet replied to his first letter. Bracing himself for pages of sharp comments about his rudeness at not writing back, Draco was pleasantly surprised to find no such remarks.

_Dear Draco, _

_While I would usually make a comment about your manners I am in a forgiving mood. I understand your not writing back son, you are most obviously busy wooing your newest conquest. I ran into Nick Parkinson the other night and he enquired after you. Apparently Pansy mentioned to him that you are often absent from the common room these nights. Son, I understand that you are being lead by something other than your head; I just hope you don't forget your duties. _

_The acquisition in Surrey occurred recently as you may have heard. I was unable to be present for the final meeting, but those that were sent to the hand over reported back that the final price might have been a tad high for the outcome achieved. But c'est la vie, we are one step towards our goals. _

_I have also been informed that the meddling fool might be recruiting soon. He does have a wonderful position in the wizarding world in which to do so, doesn't he? Watch yourself Draco; do not let yourself be swayed by those who feel they are on the path of the righteous. Remember what we discussed this summer. _

_In regards to Christmas, I might have to go to the office over the break so it might be best for you to stay at school. I am sure that Gregory and Vincent will be staying so you shall have company. Maybe if you are lucky your latest friend will be staying as well. _

_Your Father,  
Lucius_

Draco closed his eyes, so the Dark Lord was recruiting? He grimaced sarcastically. That was a change; he hadn't been approached to join the Dark Side in at least three weeks! Pansy thought she was being so clever, talking in double meanings. Didn't she realize that if Crabbe and Goyle had been as stupid as the acted even they would have known what she was talking about? Speaking of Pansy, he hadn't noticed that his absence from the common room had been so noticeable. Even though it would kill him, he was going to have to make an effort to be in the common room and not with Harry.

Draco folded the letter and looked at his team mates.

"Come on, its time to get ready," he ordered.

And with that he stood and left the Great Hall, making a conscious effort to not look at Harry.

* * *

The game was thrilling; Ravenclaw verses Slytherin with the three other houses cheering on Ravenclaw, the entire school seeming to come out in droves to see the demolition of the Green Team. Unfortunately for the rest of the school Draco's team was in fine form and slaughtered the Ravenclaw Quidditch team. Harry, Ron and Hermione went to the game and sat in the Gryffindor stand cheering on the Ravenclaw team with the rest of their house, but Harry couldn't help cheering when his boyfriend caught the snitch in a spectacular dive that made it look as though his broom had just fallen from the sky.

* * *

After dinner Draco was making his way to the Slytherin common room for the Slytherin post game party when he was pulled into an empty classroom. Looking around in surprise he saw Harry grinning at him.

"This seems to be getting a habit of ours, he said with a sardonic smile. "Perhaps we should ask Dumbledore for our very classroom?"

"Why Mr. Malfoy, for such a big Quidditch star I am sure that he would do what ever you requested!" Harry said with a coquettish smile. "I personally just want to congratulate my big, strong boyfriend on such a wonderfully played game."

And Harry leant in and kissed Draco, conveying all of the pride and emotion he felt for Draco into that one kiss. Draco wound his arms around the other boys' waist and drew him closer, melding their bodies so close together it was as if they ceased to be two separate entities and were now one. Deepening the kiss briefly he moaned at the amazing feelings coursing through his body and then regretfully pulled back.

"I have to go to my common room; my father has told me that my position of power is being questioned."

"Your father? How does he know things like that?" Harry wondered.

"My father has eyes everywhere."

"Does he know about…?"

"Us? No, he isn't that good." Draco cut in with a wry smile. "But there are eyes in the Slytherin common room that don't miss a thing. I need to go and be seen in the right places."

"You don't want to skip that and spend time with me?" Harry asked with a small smile.

"I would rather spend time with you than anything, but I need to cement my position, it's like a job."

"You aren't going to go off and join Voldemort just to cement a position or something are you?" Harry asked, only half joking.

He didn't want to believe that Draco would be with him and still want to be a death eater, but every now and again he did wonder. Draco was so good at being duplicitous; maybe this was just an act on his part.

"This Malfoy bows to no one." Draco replied with an arrogant tilt of his head. "I would rather die than bind myself to a madman; the only one I want to bind myself to is you."

And with one last kiss on Harry's lips Draco strode out of the room.

* * *

Walking into the Slytherin common room, Draco looked around and after confirming that he hadn't missed anything from Vince and Greg moved to sit on one of the leather couches. Pansy moved towards him and with a sigh Draco pasted on a smirk and turned to look at her. She seemed to be in a very good mood, he noted.

"Drakey, I have the best surprise for you!" Pansy squealed. "I know that it was supposed to be for Christmas, but my Dad pulled some strings and… here!"

And with that she shoved a book into his hands, with a sickening pull around his middle; Draco felt a portkey jerk him to another destination.

Slamming to the ground Draco stood up and looked around. He was in a dungeon or a cave of some sort, hearing footsteps, Draco turned towards the sound. His father was walking towards him. Looking very pale and drawn, Lucius spoke.

"Come Draco, the Dark Lord is waiting for you. You are to be initiated into the Death Eaters tonight."


	23. Crabbe and Goyle

**Disclaimer:** Anything that you recognise does not belong to me; it belongs to the very talented J.K. Rowling. Lucky her! I am doing this purely to see if I can, I am not making any money off of this what so ever. Unlucky me!

Also, I have read a lot of stories on this site, so if anything is familiar, it is not on purpose… Could you simply take it as an homage?

**A/N:** Thankyou to my fantastic Beta, dreamerdoll. If it wasnt for her you wouldnt be getting these two chapters so quickly!

* * *

Vincent and Gregory glanced sharply at each other as Draco suddenly disappeared. Something was not right here. Pansy was looking entirely too pleased with herself. At a subtle signal from Vince they slipped into character and lumbered over to Pansy.

"Where's Malfoy?" Greg grunted.

"I gave him a very special gift for winning the game," Pansy told him, "I gave him the opportunity to do something that he would have had to wait until after Christmas with the rest of us to do if it hadn't been for me." She patted Greg's arm, "Don't worry your silly little heads. When he comes back he will be very happy. Tata."

And with that Pansy got up and sashayed across the common room to a group of sixth years. Greg and Vince glanced at each other; Pansy had just sent Draco to Lord Voldemort?

"Sod it." Cursed Vince as he turned and strode out of the common room with Greg hot on his heels.

* * *

As they moved through the corridors the two boys were completely silent but managed to agree the Harry was probably their best hope for getting Draco back, and that they were going to have to break character to convince him that this wasn't some sick joke on their part. Walking through the corridors they came across Harry just before the Gryffindor common room. Moving swiftly together, Vince and Greg grabbed Harry under his arms and, with Vince's hand over his mouth, hauled him around the corner.

"Play along and this won't hurt a bit. Fight us and it will get very painful on your part," Greg growled into the boy's ear.

And with that, for all appearances, Crabbe and Goyle started beating the absolute stuffing out of Harry Potter. In actual fact none of their punches, kicks and head butts hit their mark but Harry still fought back as if they had, that is, until a meaty fist connected with his abdomen.

"What the hell are you doing?" Harry gasped out, as blows rained down around him.

"Draco has been delivered to the Dark Lord."

"Why the hell should I care about that?" Harry asked, playing his part even as he felt his stomach clench in fearwhen he heard that his boyfriend was in the hands of a maniac.

"We know what's going on between you and Draco," Vince answered, wincing as his knuckles hit the wall next to Harry accidentally. "Pansy got her father to pull some strings as a gift to Draco for winning the game today; He is going to be initiated into the Death Eaters tonight..."

"But he doesn't want this! He told me himself!" Harry exclaimed as Greg pretended to head butt him.

"We know he doesn't want to join these nutters, apart from the fact that he would rather die than have to hurt you, he has said numerous times that he was not going to follow his father and bow to that maniac. Potter, you are the only one who can help him, Vince and I cannot get to him where he is."

"How do I get to him? If you two can't, how do I?" Harry asked, his mind whirling.

What was going on? He stood there as two people he had been led to believe were absolute idiots were having rational conversations, punches were being thrown at him but he wasn't getting hurt, and his boyfriend, the son of a death eater, was being pledged to his mortal enemy, someone Draco wanted absolutely nothing to do with.

"Use your connection," suggested Vince, praying that the link between their veela friend and his mate was strong enough. "Focus on what you feel for him, all that love and passion, that bond between you and him. You know he loves you and he would never betray you for that mad man – "

"Hey! Get off him!" A shout broke into what Vince was saying. Ron had come round the corner and had seen his best friend being beaten up.

"They'll kill him!" Greg hissed at Harry with one last punch at the wall next to Harry, and with that they turned and glared at Ron before lumbering down the hallway, slipping back into the public personas that they adopted of Malfoy's stupid henchmen.

"Harry, are you okay?" Ron anxiously asked as he checked over his best friend, he didn't seem physically hurt but his eyes held a desperation that scared Ron.

"I need to get my invisibility cloak, I have to get off school grounds, the fastest way is through the front gates, come on!" And with that Harry raced off towards the Gryffindor common room with Ron hot on his heels.

"Why do you need to get off the school grounds mate?" Ron asked following closely behind, he was starting to get freaked out, the last time he had seen Harry like this had been when Sirius had been killed, and he didn't want Harry falling into the same trap.

"Draco is in trouble!"

"What, Malfoy? Why are you so concerned about Malfoy? He isn't worth getting into trouble over," Ron stated, extremely confused.

"I am concerned about Draco because I have been seeing him for the last month. I'm sorry, I didn't want to tell you like this, but he is in trouble and I need to help him!"

"How do you know he is in trouble?" They had now reached the seventh year boys dorm and Harry was ruffling through his trunk desperately looking for the cloak.

"Crabbe and Goyle told me, Pansy sent him there as a gift for winning the game today."

"Crabbe and Goyle told you? Harry, they cannot string two sentences together, how can they have told you?" questioned Ron, conveniently forgetting Goyle's lucidity when he had him up against the wall a few weeks ago.

"I don't care about that! You weren't there, they were perfectly rational and Draco is in trouble, I can't let him be killed as well!"

"But, but, but Harry! He's Malfoy! You may think something is happening, but – "

Harry had had enough, spinning around he slammed Ron against the wall of the corridor he had been hurrying down in his haste to get to the front doors and off the grounds.

"But, He's Mine! He is the only one who cares about me for me! I have lost almost everyone in my life; I couldn't handle it if he was taken too. Ron, you are my best friend, but if you don't understand, I don't care. Draco is mine, and I love him, and I am not going to let something happen to him, especially if I am able to stop it!"

And with that Harry swirled the invisibility cloak over his and raced away, leaving Ron staring at the now closed door, the only sound the receding footsteps racing down the corridor.

* * *

Reaching the front gates of Hogwarts, Harry slipped through the bars of the gate and concentrated hard on all the love he felt for Draco, on the bond that they had been forged between them over the past four weeks. Letting his eyes fall shut, Harry drew in a deep breath and apparated away.

Feeling his feet hit the ground he opened his eyes and looked around. He was in a dungeon or a cave of some kind. Moving soundlessly over to the wall, Harry started his search for Draco.


	24. Voldemort

**Disclaimer:** Anything that you recognise does not belong to me; it belongs to the very talented J.K. Rowling. Lucky her! I am doing this purely to see if I can, I am not making any money off of this what so ever. Unlucky me!

Also, I have read a lot of stories on this site, so if anything is familiar, it is not on purpose… Could you simply take it as an homage?

**A/N:** This is dedicated to my fantabulous Beta **dreamerdoll**, who has to work all night the release of _Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince_, meaning she cant read it for hours after the release! Poor thing! And to **Katsu Kitsune** who donated chocolate to help me write the next chapter!

This all I am writing for a week or two, due to the BIG DAY! I figure that HP fan fiction will slow down for a while anyways... Woohoo!

This is just a repost, I left corrections from dreamerdoll in the last one, oops. What would I do though if I didnt have her to correct me? I would make even more mistakes!

* * *

Hearing faint voices, Harry crept down a roughly hewn corridor, eyes moving feverishly from point to point, on the look out for any sign of adversaries. Reaching the end of the passage, Harry blinked at the sight before him. In a large chamber there were maybe fifty Death Eaters all in full dress, with masks, milling around as if waiting for something. As one they turned and looked towards something that was obscured from Harry's view.

A low murmur ran through the crowd as a tall, thin man moved to the centre of the room. Harry gasped silently; he was looking at Lord Voldemort for the first time in a year, and that time had not been kind to him. Where he had once been a commanding presence, now he appeared gaunt and frail. The serpent-topped walking stick, one which had once been so terrifying in the hands of Lucius Malfoy, was now clung to by a long fingered, feeble hand of the once great Dark Lord. His eyes still glowed with the same manic quest for power, but the body that had served him so well before his unfortunate departure and subsequent return to the wizarding world was now giving out on him.

The man moved over to a chair situated atop a small peak in the rough floor of the room and sat with a relieved sigh. Turning to survey his Death Eaters, he straightened in his chair and looked around him domineeringly. Though his body may have lacked some of its physical power, the Dark Lord himself was still able to command, and still had such a presence that one did not easily notice his frailty while in movement.

"Well, my faithful Death Eaters, I am most displeased. The attack on Harry Potter's relatives did not send him into fits of madness as we had hoped. He did not even come after me for revenge as it had been foreseen. Such a pity, a good battle with a wizard not yet out of school would have raised my spirits, even if he had managed to pull his usual vanishing act and get away once more. But the initiation of the son of one of my most loyal Death Eaters will bring me some joy. To think Lucius that you did not believe he was going to be ready until Christmas and here he is. Nicolai, you were correct in suggesting young Draco Malfoy for the initial foray into the next generation of Death Eaters, you shall be rewarded. He is strong and proud, just like his father, I shall enjoy breaking him to my will."

Lord Voldemort looked around at the sea of silver masks all turned towards him. He inwardly sneered, they were not faithful; Lucius had managed to worm his way out of giving his son up before, but not this time. He would enjoy causing pain to his supposed right hand man by hurting his son. Nicolai Parkinson was wrapped around his daughter's little finger, she would be an asset to his cause, much more satisfying than her father. Severus Snape used to be a benefit to him, but he was slipping, the revitalising potion he brewed every month had not been as effective as in recent times. If he hadn't read the man's utter devotion to his cause through legilimency, he would be tempted to dispose of him as he had those blundering oafs Crabbe and Goyle. The Dark Lord allowed himself a small sigh at the thought of having the next generation of those two families joining his ranks in a few short weeks.

Noticing that his Death Eaters had started shifting uncomfortably, Lord Voldemort commenced speaking again. "Perhaps after we have welcomed our newest Death Eater someone will have a brain wave as to how to restore my strength permanently, hmmm? I do not expect miracles but someone must have an idea that has some merit. It would not do for you to have a ruler confined to a chair for his reign, now will it?"

He swept his eyes over the crowd before him, enjoying the way they glanced away uneasily under his harsh gaze. That is one thing that the fool Dumbledore would never understand, fear bread loyalty, nothing else.

"But I tire of speaking; bring in the young Mister Malfoy." He waved a hand regally.

Harry silently gasped once again as he saw Draco being dragged into the room from an alcove at the back of the chamber holding the Death Eaters. The blonde haired boy was unconscious and his face bruised as if he had been worked over before Harry arrived. A whispered enervate from one of the masked men brought Draco round to consciousness.

Groaning, Draco lifted his head and looked around at his surroundings, his heart sinking more and more with every Death Eater he saw. How was he possibly going to get out of this one unmarked?

"Ahh, Mister Malfoy, so nice of you to join us. You owe a great debt to Nicolai Parkinson and his daughter. It was his suggestion that you be the first initiated from your generation, lets see if you are worthy of such a high honour, shall we? Legilimens."

Draco screamed in pain as he felt fingers sort through his brain, bringing images to the foreground of his mind. Him kissing Harry, looking deep into Harry's eyes and saying that "you are the only one I want to bind myself to", the water balloon fight, realising that Harry was his mate, his father telling him that he was part veela.

"Well, well, well. Lucius, have you been keeping things from me or did you truly not know what was going on either? It seems that your son has some interesting allegiances. That he doesn't want to join our cause at all. That his MATE is someone that we have all sworn to destroy!"

Lucius went white. What had the Dark Lord seen in his sons mind? Before his brain could even start to suppose the possibilities, Voldemort raised his wand and screamed,

"CRUCIO!"

But before Draco could begin to articulate a scream, another voice cut into the fray.

"No!" Harry Potter had leapt out from behind the wall he was watching from drawing the attention of everyone in the room, including Lord Voldemort's, breaking his concentration and thus breaking the curse. But that did not seem to bother the Dark Lord as a huge smile broke out over his snake like features.

"Ah, Harry Potter! What a pleasant surprise! Are you here to watch me murder your lover?"

"I can't let you do that, you have taken everything else away from me, but I will not let you have him." Harry said harshly to the deranged man in the centre of the room, edging towards Draco as he spoke.

"Ah but Harry, I want him, I have wanted him for years. And I think if I can't have him, no-one can!" And with that Voldemort bought up his wand and uttered words that caused a chill to go through Harry's heart.

"Avada – "

"NOOOOO!" Harry yelled, diving towards Draco, but a strange thing happened as he did so. A giant pulse swept outwards from Harry's heart, through his body into the rest of the room, knocking the Death Eaters over and drawing a piercing howl from Voldemort.

After checking Draco over very quickly, Harry looked up to see the most feared Dark Lord in the past century writhing on the floor, suddenly he stopped, as if seeing something that no one else could see, whispering.

"Illic est nusquam peior quam nex"

And as he uttered the final word his head fell back to the floor, his still body crumbling to ash.

Standing up slowly and holding out a hand to Draco, Harry moved cautiously forward. Stopping at the edge of the remains of the decimated Dark Lord, Harry slumped into Draco, sobbing uncontrollably.

"I thought I had lost you."

Draco wrapped his arms around the trembling Gryffindor, his heart full of love and relief. His mate had loved him enough to save him from certain death, the link between them was strong enough to allow Harry to find his location, regardless of how large a distance. Harry had risked his life for him, killing the most evil man to walk the earth in a century in the process, and for that Draco loved him all the more.

"Shh, you silly boy, remember what I said? I'm yours; you couldn't get rid of me if you tried."

Harry waved his wand once more and the Death Eaters were bound at the hands and ankles.

"Have you any idea where we are and how we can get out of here?" He questioned Draco

"I don't, but I know someone who does," Draco replied, moving over to his father.

Harry was reluctant to let Draco go after such a close call and went with him, stopping by the older Malfoy's head. With a whispered enervate from Draco, Lucius' eyes snapped open, with a few questions they found where they were and sent word to Dumbledore and the rest of the Order, freeing Professor Snape as they went. Everything seemed to be falling into place, but one thing was bothering Harry, turning to the blonde next to him he asked,

"Draco, how did I manage to find you?"

Draco sighed; the time had come to tell his mate everything.

"Harry, there's something I need to tell you."


	25. Ron

**Disclaimer:** Anything that you recognise does not belong to me; it belongs to the very talented J.K. Rowling. Lucky her! I am doing this purely to see if I can, I am not making any money off of this what so ever. Unlucky me!

Also, I have read a lot of stories on this site, so if anything is familiar, it is not on purpose… Could you simply take it as an homage?

**A/N:** A huge thankyou to my Beta dreamerdoll, her thoughts about Harry Potter have really brightened up my perpectives! And she did wonderful things with this chapter.

* * *

Unfortunately, Draco was not able to immediately tell Harry the answers to his question as Dumbledore appeared at his elbow, cutting him off.

"Come along boys. I dare say there is a nurse at Hogwarts who is very anxious to see you."

Dumbledore held out a tin of sweets for Harry and Draco to place a finger on, and soon they were touching down in the infirmary of Hogwarts with Madame Pomfrey rushing towards them. Ushering the two teens to near by beds, the matron turned to Draco first, the usually unflappable nurse flapping quite spectacularly when she saw the damage done to Draco's body by the different techniques of torture. This left Harry under the watchful eye of Professor Dumbledore, something Harry was not too upset about as this gave him the opportunity to talk. As was becoming the custom after facing Voldemort, Harry turned to Dumbledore for answers about what happened.

"Headmaster, in the cave, Voldemort tried to kill Draco. But I managed to stop it. It was like I felt a pulse, or a wave of magic just sweep through me and it knocked all of the Death Eaters unconscious and, and, it killed Voldemort. What happened?"

"Harry do you remember me telling me what Voldemort feared more than anything? What he could not comprehend and therefore feared? Love, Harry, love. Tom Riddle sank so far into the Dark Arts that moments of levity actually caused him pain. The fact that you loved and cared for your friend so much that your magic responded to Draco's situation was what killed Voldemort. The pulse you felt go through you was a magic created by love and all things pure. That is also the reason that the surrounding Death Eaters were knocked unconscious. The hatred and malice that was coursing through them at the time, both from Voldemort's influences and their own personalities, did not react well with the purity emitting from your own magic and thus they were rendered unconscious. I would imagine that you experienced some form of release after such a large expenditure of magic?"

At Harry's confused look he elaborated. "Fainting, hysterical laughter, tears…"

Harry nodded, looking down at his hands. "The last one."

"This is nothing to worry about, or be embarrassed over my boy. You body had just had a huge shock to its system, as well as undergoing the immense emotional stress of seeing a friend being tortured. It is perfectly natural to shed some tears after such an event."

Harry started to ask another question but was cut off by the arrival of Madame Pomfrey, who after a very thorough examination pronounced that, other than a slight depletion of his magical strength, he was fine and could leave the next morning after a good nights sleep. Then she forced a sleeping potion down his throat and bustled off again. Harry could do no more than snuggle down under the covers before drifting off to sleep.

* * *

Harry woke slowly from a deep and refreshing slumber the next day to find himself face to face with Draco. The blonde had somehow managed to slip out of his bed and over to Harry's during the night and was now studying the other boy with serious grey eyes. He couldn't help but feel nervous; Harry had thrown himself into danger, seemingly to save him from peril, but how would he react to fining out his boyfriend was part magical creature? A magical creature that they had studied in class no less!

Harry smiled sleepily at Draco, "Hey," he murmured as he reached out a hand to stroke the blonde's cheek. Harry found that he could not relinquish the contact he had with his boyfriend so soon after he had almost lost him, so he let his hand rest on Draco's neck.

"Harry, I have something to tell you," Draco began, only to turn around in annoyance as a voice sounded behind him.

"Harry?" Ron stood a few feet from the bed, looking nervous.

"Can I talk to you for a moment please? Alone?" He asked, his freckles standing out in stark relief from his pale skin, belying his worried state.

Harry glanced at Draco quickly before replying, "Sure Ron, Dray I will come visit you later. Madame Pomfrey isn't letting you out any time soon is she?"

With a small smile at the blonde that promised a fast return, Harry got out of bed and walked past Ron, intending on going through the main door of the infirmary, but Ron stopped him.

"Hang on, Harry. Word is out about what you did last night. While there aren't reporters on the school ground yet, a lot of students are hanging around waiting to get a glimpse of you. I was thinking we could go out behind poor William."

Ron referred to the hidden passage behind the portrait of William Lofthouse, a young boy who had had his brain altered by magic by his father; rumor was that he was a relative of Madame Pomfrey. The hidden passage ran the length of the school with regular exits, one of which was very close to the Gryffindor common room.

* * *

Once Harry and Ron reached the Gryffindor Tower they bypassed the common room and went up to the mercifully empty seventh year boys dormitory. Ron gestured to Harry to sit on the edge of his bed while he sat on the edge of his and just looked at Harry. Taking a deep breath Ron began speaking.

"Mate, you know that you, Hermione, and me are best friends, right? That ever since the troll in first year, we have always been there for each other. Harry, the fact that you're famous is not why I'm friends with you. I don't hang around you for what you can do for me, what your name is, and who you are to the rest of the world. That has nothing at all to do with our friendship. You would be like a brother to me even if you weren't the savior of the Wizarding World, or if you weren't rich; especially if you weren't rich." He grinned slightly; ears tinged a light pink, and continued, "It is because you are kind, genuine, caring, and thoughtful that we, your friends and family, love you. Anyway, what I am trying to say is that lots of people care about you because you are you, Harry, not the Boy Who Lived, and that whatever you do, I will always be there for you. I will even accept the fact that you love the Slytherin Prince." He shook his head.

Ron looked vaguely relieved that he had gotten his little speech out, and relaxed slightly as Harry stared at him in shock. He hadn't realized that his words to Ron before he left the castle could have been interpreted like this. He knew that Ron loved him like a brother, hell; he loved Ron like a brother! All he had meant that night was that out of the rest of the population, apart from his pre established group of friends, Draco was the only one who didn't have a hidden agenda in getting closer to him.

"Ron, I know that! I know that you wouldn't have hung around this long if you just wanted something out of me! God, what we have gotten into would have made even the best actor run in terror! The fact that you and Hermione have stood by me year after year and faced down all these horrors with me means more than I can ever tell you. What I meant about Draco was that I think he is another person who I can let into my life. I love him in a very different way to you, but that doesn't change anything between us. You are my best friend, and that is how it will stay."

Standing up, Harry pulled the red head into a hug that he hoped conveyed all the feeling of love and friendship that were coursing through him at that moment. After a few seconds he pulled back.

"Now, I have to go see Draco again. He has some questions to answer."

What Harry didn't mention as that he was still feeling a little antsy being away from Draco for too long. The memory of Voldemort screaming the beginnings of the fatal unforgivable at the Slytherin was still fresh in his mind.

"I will meet up with you and Hermione at dinner, yeah?"

Receiving an affirmative nod from Ron, the dark haired youth moved swiftly back down to poor William's passageway.

* * *

Walking into the infirmary, Harry's eyes were immediately drawn to the pale figure lying in the bed that he had vacated earlier.

"Hey," he whispered, moving softly across the room and gently laying down on the bed beside Draco.

"How are you feeling?" He asked, gently brushing a few strands of air of the blonde's forehead.

"I'm fine," Draco whispered back. "I really do have something to tell you though."

The slightly worried look crept back into his eyes, he really did not know how Harry was going to react to this, and he couldn't help but think of the worst possible scenarios.

"Harry, I'm a part veela. My great, great, great grandmother on my father's side, Amelinda, was a veela, and I received the veela attributes."

Harry was confused.

"Right, so, are you going to like… change? I mean, you need to find your mate right? That's what Remus said in class. That even part veelas have mates and that's who they are meant to be with. Um, have you already found your mate?"

"Yes Harry, I have." Draco replied pleased that Harry seemed to be taking this better than he had imagined.

"Oh, right, well. I won't stay in your way. I mean, it will be hard, I love you, but your mate will make you complete wont they? So I won't be a bother and try and keep you with me."

Harry felt like his heart was breaking. He had almost lost Draco to Voldemort and now he was losing him anyway.

Draco started to panic, what was happening? This was not how he expected it to go at all! He needed to make it right.

"No Harry, you misunderstood me. You are my mate."

* * *

Sorry, I am procrastinating... Next chapter will (finally) have the talk between Harry and Draco


	26. Harry I am your

**Disclaimer:** Anything that you recognise does not belong to me; it belongs to the very talented J.K. Rowling. Lucky her! I am doing this purely to see if I can, I am not making any money off of this what so ever. Unlucky me!

Also, I have read a lot of stories on this site, so if anything is familiar, it is not on purpose… Could you simply take it as an homage?

**A/N:** I am so sorry about the delay... Uni and computer troubles were cospiring against me! I promise the next update will be very soon, also thankyou to my Beta dreamerdoll, I hope you are back in action soon!

* * *

"_No Harry, you misunderstood me. You are my mate."__

* * *

_

"Sorry?" Harry asked, feeling slightly as though he had been hit over the back of the head with a two by four.

"You are my mate Harry." Draco replied

"Wow," replied Harry dazedly.

Never in his wildest dreams had he imagined this, even though Draco had just told him that he was a part veela with that intense look in his eyes, he hadn't clicked. Which was quite silly really, how else could one explain two mortal enemies suddenly putting aside all the animosity between them and embarking on a relationship? Harry's hopes were starting to sink down to depths uncharted by man or wizard.

Draco was looking at Harry in concern, Harry wasn't speaking to him, he wasn't even looking at him.

"Harry?" He asked hesitantly, watching with worry in his eyes as his mate traced the white stitching on the infirmary sheets.

"So the only reason you are interested in me is because of some scent thing?" Harry asked, avoiding Draco's eyes.

"What?" Draco couldn't believe what he was hearing, "No! No, no, no, no, no, never that, Harry. Don't you remember anything from Defence or Care of Magical Creatures? Yes, I initially identified you as my mate by scent, you smell like all my favourite foods and my every good memory, did you know that? But I am not with you just because of some _scent_ thing, Harry, you are my soul mate. And I am yours. We are meant to be together forever, the fact that I had some extra help finding you doesn't mean anything, we would have found each other eventually."

Harry looked up with scepticism in his eyes.

"You are saying that the son of Voldemort's right hand man wouldn't have not become a death eater and embarked on a scandalous affair with the boy who lived without being a veela? Sure"

Draco knew he had to say something that would convince his mate of his feelings.

"Okay, so what I am now going to tell you is very secret. Dumbledore doesn't even know this, and the old coot knows everything, that is how secret it is."

"Yeah?" Harry asked.

"Yeah, I trust you so that is why I am telling you. My father is no longer an active member of the Death Eaters. He paid a large sum of money to 'the cause' and got out of it. He still goes when Voldemort summons him, but he no longer participates in raids or mass slaughters. I don't know why my father just suddenly didn't want to be a part of it any more, I asked him once, but he just smiled and shook his head, and said that some things were more important than one's beliefs. He has been sending me letters since then detailing what Voldemort's plans are and I have been passing the letters along to Dumbledore. Without him knowing of course. Let me tell you, it is very difficult to give Dumbledore a letter while not actually handing it to him. I have turned into a whining nancy boy with a strong aversion to birds it seems. The only way I can get into Dumbledore's office is to complain about something."

"Hang on; you have been passing information onto the side of the light? Why? The Draco Malfoy I used to know couldn't wait to join Voldemort's cause. You were always spouting off his beliefs and stuff. Although you haven't done that recently, did the veela in you change that as well?"

Draco sighed and decided to explain further.

"Harry, I never intended to join the Dark Lord. What you have seen the last six years has all been an act. Vincent, Gregory and I have all been playing different parts, surviving in the Slytherin house any way we know how. The Slytherin's reputation, though grossly exaggerated, is based on some fact. We are all very secretive and would do almost anything to get ahead in the world. Family is very important to us, and many parents were joined with the Dark Lord's cause. Vince, Greg and I could never be sure of anyone's allegiances and we had to act accordingly. So Greg and Vince drafted themselves as my dumb bodyguards and I took the part of the obnoxious leader."

"Hang on," Harry cut in disbelievingly, "Crabbe and Goyle are smart and have been playing a role for the last six years?"

"Why do you think they are still in the advanced classes except for Potions? If any teacher was to just let them slide it would be Severus, they earnt their way into each and every one of those classes. Most teachers are not inclined to give the Slytherin's a free ride."

"Oh," Harry said in a small voice, trying to wrap his mind around the concept of a smart Crabbe and Goyle.

"I guess that makes sense." He conceded, "They did help me get to you after all."

"What?" Draco broke in, taking his turn to be confused, "What do you mean, helped you?"

"After you disappeared, they came and beat me up and told me to focus on all my feelings for you and I would find you."

"What? They beat you up?" At Draco's angry squawk, Harry hastened to reassure him.

"They didn't hit me, they only pretended to beat me up, so the could tell me that Pansy had sent you to Voldemort."

Draco started to calm down, the thought of anyone hurting his mate made his blood boil. He knew that Vince and Greg were his friends, but the thought of them beating up Harry made him think of bloody mutilation, and inflicting huge amounts of pain onto the fools who laid their hands on his mate.

"I still don't understand that, how did I manage to apparate to you, even though I had no idea where you were?"

"Harry, I don't really know how that happened. Veelas are able to apparate to their mate's side because of the soul link, but I never read anything about it working the other way as well."

"Oh," Harry answered. His mind was still reeling, he understood that Draco was a veela now, but it was still really confusing he felt like his life had been turned upside down once again. And on top of that, Voldemort was gone; he had the rest of his life ahead of him, free from danger. But now, it was almost as if his life had been decided for him again, but instead of what he was going to do with his life, it was who he was going to spend his life with. Not that that was a bad thing, he loved Draco, he knew he did, he just had some things to think about.

"Draco, do you mind if I leave you for a little bit? I just need some time to think about stuff, ok? I still love you; I just need to think about things." Harry looked deep into Draco's eyes, trying to telepathically convey all his love and feelings for Draco, before giving him a small smile and a kiss on the forehead and walking out of the infirmary.

Draco sighed as he lay down, wincing as some of the burns on his back pulled a little bit, Madame Pomfrey was a genius, but he still had some healing left to do. He only hoped his mate would be back soon to take his mind off the pain.


	27. Telling Everybody What we did last night

**Disclaimer:** Anything that you recognise does not belong to me; it belongs to the very talented J.K. Rowling. Lucky her! I am doing this purely to see if I can, I am not making any money off of this what so ever. Unlucky me!

Also, I have read a lot of stories on this site, so if anything is familiar, it is not on purpose… Could you simply take it as an homage?

**A/N:** Thankyou to all you wonderful reviewers out there! You really make my day when I see I have one in my Inbox! And also thankyou to my fantabulous Bete dreamerdoll, who got this back to me in like three hours!

* * *

Harry once more left the infirmary through the portrait of poor William as he wasn't quite ready to face the crowds yet. Exiting just near the deserted hallway near the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, he wasn't surprised to see Remus Lupin leaving his classroom. Spying Harry, Remus called his name before reaching over and enveloping Harry in a tight embrace. 

"Harry, we are all so proud of you, but if you ever do anything as stupid as that again, I will not be responsible for my actions! Do you hear me?"

Leaning back, Remus shook Harry he let the worry he had felt over Harry's act show in his eyes.

"I am serious, young man!"

"Sorry Remus, it won't happen again, I promise! I was hoping for a peaceful life full of nice safe choices, but apparently I can't even do that!"

What had started off as a sincere apology descended into bitterness as Harry remembered that his life had once again been mapped out for him.

"Harry, has your ring been getting warm recently?" Remus asked, surprising Harry with the change of conversation.

"Yeah, now that you mention it, it has. Why?"

"Well I have been doing some research on it the past few weeks. I didn't want to say anything, just in case I didn't find anything," Remus continued as Harry opened his mouth to ask questions. "I saw no reason in raising your hopes just to disappoint you. But that isn't the point, I found something Harry! And it is very exciting! The stone in your ring is a black onyx, it's very rare, but the particular gem in your ring is the Gem of Perfectus Belatro. It is a very powerful stone, Harry; it allows the wearer to find their soul mate. It grows warm in their presence. I should have remembered that! Your Godfather always said that everyone deserved true love. Sirius was in awe of your parents' relationship, soul mates he called them. So when he was named your Godfather he obviously went and found a way for you to discover your own soul mate, and not miss out on true love."

Harry gave a weak smile.

"I dare say the ring has been warming up around Draco Malfoy?" Remus asked, searching Harry's face for some trace of happiness.

"How did you know?" Harry asked, looking up into his surrogate Godfather's concerned gaze.

"I may not be a wolf all of the time Harry," the werewolf smiled, "but I still have the heightened senses of a canine even for the days that I do not inhabit the body of the wolf. I could smell there was something different about Mr. Malfoy, that he was a veela. I did not learn that you were his mate until sometime after that. When I learnt that you and he had ceased your fighting and were sitting amicably together in classes, then there was the fact that he was incapable of hurting you."

"Remus, what am I going to do?" Harry groaned.

"Do? Harry, I don't understand, do you feel that this is a bad thing?" Remus asked gently.

"Well isn't it? So far the entire of my life has been pre-determined by some poxy prophecy and a power hungry megalomaniac. And now that I have gotten rid of him and that weight is off my shoulders, I am now told that I have a soul mate, who is a veela, who I am supposed to bond with, and stay bonded to forever. And while I am crazy happy about that, because I am in love with him, I just can't help but feel that once again my life is being decided for me. Draco is the third person I have ever been interested in romantically, he is the first male I have ever kissed and I really thought that this was the one, that he loved me, Harry. Not The Boy Who Lived. But then he tells me that he is part veela and he identified me by scent? What am I supposed to think now? That a chemical reaction has said that we are to be together and we will just skip off hand in hand happily ever after?"

Harry's voice had been rising quite steadily as he had been talking and he ended his rant at a yell, breathing heavily, trying to control his emotions.

"Oh Harry, no." Remus sighed. "We didn't really cover veela enough in class did we? This is a wonderful gift Harry. So many people go through life never finding true love, and your soul mate has a built in survival instinct that allows him to find you! You said so yourself that you love Draco, does it matter how you got together? All that really matters is that you are together now. Harry, you risked your life to save him from Lord Voldemort, even before you knew about this soul mate business, you loved him before you knew about the veela side of things. I would be worried if you had been informed of you and Draco being mates, and suddenly you underwent a major personality change, but Draco was very good in allowing you the chance to fall in love with him naturally. I know Hermione sent you a book about magical creatures for your birthday, and I gave Draco a book about veela and other species that can interbreed with humans, so why don't you and he have a read through them together and then have a talk?"

* * *

Harry saw the sense in this, and so thanking Remus, he started to make his way towards the Gryffindor Tower. Unfortunately his trip there was hindered by many people asking questions about what had happened the night before so it was a great relief to make it to his dormitory and grab his invisibility cloak, as well as the book. Making his way back to the infirmary where he intended to spend the rest of the day with his boyfriend, reading about their situation, he was once again waylaid, this time by Professor Dumbledore. 

"Ah, Harry my boy," the old professor said smiling at an invisible Harry, "I have a favour to ask of you, if you do not mind?"

Harry sighed and slid off the cloak, what was the point of being invisible if the Headmaster wasn't going to play along with the charade that no-one could see him?

"Certainly, sir"

"Good, good, I need you to tell a few reporters about what happened last night if you don't mind. I know this is short notice, but they are waiting in the Great Hall, and I felt it best if the story came straight from you, instead of coming from those who do not know the entire story and could put a negative spin on things."

"Certainly, sir," Harry replied, following along behind Professor Dumbledore as he swept towards the school's eating place.

Reaching the doors to the Great Hall, Dumbledore stopped.

"Okay, Harry, remember, do not be nervous, and simply tell the story as it happened." Quietly, he said Sonorus, a spell to amplify Harry's voice, before putting a hand in the middle of Harry's back and shoving him through the doors and into a room full of reporters.

_A few reporters my ass_, Harry thought as he smiled nervously at the reporters now staring at him. Clearing his throat and moving towards the small platform at the front of the hall, Harry thought furiously about what he had to say.

"Good afternoon. Thank you for attending this press conference. It was thought that this meeting should be held so there was no confusion about the events that took place last night. If it is okay with you all, I would like to say a short statement about what happened and then I will answer some questions."

There was a murmur of ascent from the reporters so Harry continued, his magically enhanced voice booming out across the great hall, holding the reporters captivated and relying on their quick quotes quills to capture everything Harry said.

"Lord Voldemort is dead. I killed him last night in a cave just south of Blackpool. After the quidditch match the other evening between Slytherin and Ravenclaw I was informed that my boyfriend had been sent, against his will, to Voldemort, and told that I was the only one who could save him."

A round of whispers went up at the mention of a boyfriend, but Harry kept talking as if he hadn't heard them.

"Focusing on all the love and emotion I felt for him, I managed to apparate to his location, the caves in Blackpool. Planning on just sneaking in and stealing him away, I did not draw any attention to myself, enabling me to observe a Death Eater meeting without being detected. I was able to watch Voldemort in action. After talking to his followers for a while, Voldemort ordered my boyfriend be bought before the meeting, intending to initiate him into his followers. However, through legillemency Voldemort learnt of our relationship and was about to cast an unforgivable on him. That was when I lost control, I think I screamed, I can't remember, but I do remember a pulse going through me and spreading throughout the room, knocking the Death Eaters unconscious and killing Voldemort. Professor Dumbledore later told me that what I felt was a pulse of pure magic created out of love. It was love that killed Voldemort. That is what happened, does anyone have any questions?"

Many reporters started yelling questions, but one was prevalent above the rest,

"Mr. Potter, who is your boyfriend?"

Feeling that honesty was the best policy, Harry looked out into the room

"Draco Malfoy." He stated simply, the deciding that he had spent enough time away from the person in question, ended the conference with a simple "Thankyou for listening."

And with that Harry clasped his book tighter in his hand and left the Great Hall through the teacher's exit, leaving the shouting reporter's behind him.

* * *

Making his way through the infirmary doors Harry moved slowly towards Draco's bed. Clearing his throat he smiled nervously when his boyfriend turned to look at him. 

"Remus said you had an interesting book about veela. I thought maybe I could read it with you, or maybe you could read me the highlights?" He asked with a small, hopeful smile

Draco didn't say a word, he didn't have to. A blinding smile broke across his face and he moved over, making room for Harry on the bed.


	28. New Clothes!

**Disclaimer:** Anything that you recognise does not belong to me; it belongs to the very talented J.K. Rowling. Lucky her! I am doing this purely to see if I can, I am not making any money off of this what so ever. Unlucky me!

Also, I have read a lot of stories on this site, so if anything is familiar, it is not on purpose… Could you simply take it as an homage?

A/N: Hello everyone, I am so sorry about the huge delay, school suddenly got very intense and I couldn't get on my coputer without compulsively doing my asignments... You all actually have the band SIMPLE PLAN to thank for this as I went to their concert two weeks ago and it inspired me to write more. Then my internet connection died a horrible and painful death. So, finally I am back online and without further adu (spelling?) I give you chapter twenty seven, I hope people still want to read it!

* * *

Draco stretched luxuriously in his bed, slowly coming out of sleep and reaching for his mate. They had spent the entire night talking things over about the 'veela issue' and he was now feeling much more confident in his relationship with Harry. Not encountering Harry's body in his half asleep state bought Draco completely out of slumber and he sat up looking around wildly for his mate, when they had fallen asleep, Harry had been right there next to him. Sighting him down the other end of the infirmary, Draco's heart slowed from its panicked gallop and he smiled as he watched Harry race towards him.

"Dray! Its here! Its here!" Harry called, waving a newspaper above his head

"Hurry up then!" Draco called back with a big grin

Laughing at his soul mate's unabashed smile Harry bounced up to the end of the bed and sat down. "The Daily Prophet is here!" He sang, waving the folded newspaper above his head

"Stop dawdling, you are wasting my time at being able to order you around today, Potter," Draco responded, smirking at Harry's unabashed enthusiasm at enjoying the little things. He knew that life would never be boring with Harry in his life always finding something to be excited about.

"Okay, okay, but don't be so sure that you are going to win our bet, the wizarding world is has more class than you think" Harry replied unfolding the newspaper "And the headline for the Daily Prophet today is….. I don't believe it"

Harry threw the paper on the bed so Draco could see the banner headline screaming across the page

**BOY WHO LIVED IN LOVE **

**WITH A MALFOY!**

"Ha ha! I win! You are my slave for all today! Yes!" Draco dropped all pretence at being regal and contained in his excitement, going completely over board and doing a victory dance right there on top of the bed.

"Okay slave, my first order to you today is to get Madame Pomfrey, I want to get the hell out of here, we are going shopping!"

Harry groaned, but complied with his 'master's' wishes, going to get the nurse from her office.

As Madame Pomfrey gave Draco a thorough examination, Harry sat on the side of his bed dwelling over his loss.

"I can't believe it. The worst Dark Lord EVER was reduced to ash and cinder, leaving the world free from his terror and they report on my love life? I think I am going to have to write a letter"

"Get over it," Draco sighed as Madame Pomfrey poked and prodded him, muttering spells under her breath the entire time. "You need to understand that the press is unbelievably stupid, so just put the article in a box to show our kids when they ask about how you vanquished the big bad and move on. And that's an order slave," he finished with a grin.

"What ever," Harry snorted, moving out of Madame Pomfrey's way as she concluded her examination.

* * *

As they stepped into the fresh air outside the front doors of Hogwarts, Draco grabbed Harry's wrist and started to drag him down the hill towards Hogsmeade

"Come, I am not going to let any slave of mine be seen in public dressed as you usually do. We are going to take advantage of this school free day and get you properly attired"

"What if I wanted to spend today with my friends? Huh? I may have wanted to explain to Hermione what was going on, rather than let her read it in a newspaper," Harry tried, partly to stir Draco up, but mainly he _was_ worried about how Hermione was going to take the news

"Don't worry about Granger," Draco smirked, "She is smarter than you give her credit for. She figured it all out weeks ago, she knows we are soul mates and she threatened me with death if I hurt you. Although, if you are a very good slave today and submit to my will gracefully, I might let you go talk to her tonight. Now come on, we need to get you out of those awful things you seem to think are clothes!"

"Hey!" Harry protested, looking down at his clothes. He didn't think they were that bad, they were ones he had bought himself and not Dudley's cast offs at least.

"Harry, you are a Potter, a member of one of the oldest and richest families in the wizarding world. And even if that weren't so, you are the soul mate of a MALFOY. You can not be seen in public wearing generic brand clothing." Draco scrunched up his face as if he had tasted something foul. "Don't you realise that you have been put on a pedestal, and if you do not live up to expectations that pedestal will crumble. The public is fickle, you need some semblance of defence against them and changing your clothing will be the first step towards this."

"Dray, I am not going to act as if I am better than everyone. I do not feel like I am above anyone and I am not going to go swanning around putting on airs and graces in fancy clothes!"

"Well I happen to think you are better than _**everyone**_, but we will let that go for the moment. I am not expecting you to act any different to how you are now. You will simply be better dressed. That is all. Now come on, hurry up" Draco replied as he pulled Harry along through the town.

Harry couldn't believe the change in the village as he walked through its streets. People were stopping to look in the windows of stores, they were smiling, they were laughing, and they were acknowledging others in their path. It was as if a huge cloud had been lifted from the village of Hogsmeade and the people were rejoicing

"Wow, look what we did…" Harry whispered in awe

"Hmm?" Draco hummed his enquiry into what Harry had said

"Nothing" Harry replied with a brilliant smile, before taking Draco's hand and dragging him closer to him so he could wrap an arm around the blondes waist

* * *

"Come on, we are going in here" Draco said a while later, pulling Harry into a small boutique 'Chez Claude, International Couture'.

Harry found himself shoved into the largest dressing room he had ever seen in his life. Little did he know that the dressing cubicle was going to be his prison for the next few hours as Draco and Claude (who had greeted the young Malfoy heir with dollar signs in his eyes) forced him into what felt like every single item of clothing in the store and then critiqued him ruthlessly. At last Harry reached his salvation when he heard Draco call over the door

"Okay Harry, that is all for today, I think we have enough to work with for the time being. Once the school year is over though we are going to have to go to Diagon Alley and London for a more extensive wardrobe. Put on the red Givenchi button down shirt with the black Vuitisse wool slacks and the Mary Williams black dragon hide belt with the silver etchings and buckle. For the shoes try the black Ribicci loafers, no socks. While you have been in there a crowd of people have appeared outside the door. This is the perfect time for your debut in your new clothes."

Harry struggled into the clothes that Draco had dictated, and while he did not agree with the sentiment of dressing as if he were better than everyone else, he did have to admit that Draco knew his shit. Harry didn't think he had ever found clothes that worked so well together, or looked so good on.

Walking out of the fitting room he stood for inspection and after receiving a quick 'you'll do' from his boyfriend, his hand was grabbed and he and Draco pushed their way into the crowd. It was overwhelming, there were hands grabbing at him from all directions, people screaming, people weeping their gratitude and reporters firing questions at the pair. Draco guided Harry out of the crowd, the boy who lived simply smiling and following along, ignoring the questions being fired at them. Until one question caught him by surprise…

"Mr Potter, when are we going to hear about children from the pair of you then?"

Before he could react Draco wrapped his arms around Harry's waist and apparated them out of the crowd.

Harry and Draco landed outside of the gates of Hogwarts with a light thump, leaving his arms around the slightly smaller boy

"Sorry about that, I could see more of the crowd, and it went on forever. I figured that it would be best to just apparate out of there."

"That's fine. Dray," Harry started uncertainly "One of the reporters back there mentioned something about children, and now that I think about it you mentioned something about them earlier this morning. I don't understand, are we expected to adopt immediately or something?"

"Harry, I thought you read that bit…" Draco was a bit thrown and unsure of how to continue, "All veelas are able to bare children. It is rare in part veelas, but if the bond is strong enough, you would be able to impregnate me. And considering that you were able to apparate to my whereabouts the day before yesterday that could be an indication that a strong bond is to follow."

"Oh," was all Harry could think to say.


End file.
